Jonathon Richardson by himself

Contemplative exhibition at the Courtauld of self-portraits by John Richardson, the 18th century artist.

Richardson was a portrait painter and art theorist who had a huge collection of drawings. He began making self-portraits at the age of 61 drawing himself every few days so that they became a record not just of how he looked, but also of his mood changes. In some he goes back and reimagines his younger self. He based some of the pictures on drawings he owned such as one of him in a hat based on a Rembrandt and one based on a Bernini drawing.

It was interesting to walk round and thing about what they said about age but also to think of them as one man’s intellectual exercise so you get glimpses of him working through ideas.

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