Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating detailed online lecture from the London Art History Society tracing changes meaning of depictions of Cashmere shawls in three portraits by Reynolds. Taking portraits of Captain John Foote, Mrs Horton previously Nancy Parsons and Mrs Baldwin, Jennifer Van Schoor, art director and graphic designer, traced the meaning of shawls in the 18 th century. For Foote the shawl was part of a diplomatic gift and showed his status within the East India Company on his return to England soon after this painting was made returnees from India were starting to be seen unfavourably and as ostentatious. Foreign luxuries were seen as threatening manners. The shawl in the painting of Nancy Parsons has shades of promiscuity as she was known to be the mistress of the Prime Minister the 3 rd Duke of Grafton. It was linking the exotic with low morals. Finally in the portrait of Mrs Baldwin it is still a sign of the exotic but in this case it was being seen as more acceptable as she was fro...

Delightful and informative exhibition at the Wallace Collection using their Reynolds pictures to look at his technique and use of new materials and in doing so also looked at themes in his work. Many of the techniques used by Reynolds have not lasted well and he was known to have to revisit pictures and repair them for clients. This did not stop people commissioning from him and there is a contemporary quote that “Even a faded picture by Reynolds will be the finest thing you have”. His ‘fancies’ pictures of children seem to have been particularly vulnerable.   I was very interested in the changes in composition in the portraits. Sometimes fashion changed faster than painting a portrait so hairstyles had to be repainted to stay in fashion. It also looks like he worked on more than one version of a picture at the same time. I liked the section which looked at Mary Robinson, also known as the actress Perdita, as it gave the chance to tell the story of how her lover f...

Interesting display at Tate Britain looking at the conservation of a Joshua Reynolds picture of a small girl “The Age of Innocence”. The cleaning had given it a crisp clear finish and made you look at the quality of the painting rather than the slightly sugary subject matter. I was interesting to see it hung with copies and studio versions as they showed what a good work the original was. It was also interesting to see it with prints taken from it as some of those showed that some of the restoration had been done quite early on in its life and therefore may have been done by Reynolds himself. I also thought he display of souvenirs based on it were rather fun and a nice touch to show the popularity of the picture over the years.