From Library Journal
It has been a full century since the last complete catalog of Reynolds's works was published, bringing together paintings scattered throughout the world on museum walls and in the corridors of stately homes. Mannings (history of art, Univ. of Aberdeen) and Postle (senior curator, Tate Collections) have produced an outstanding scholarly work that could well serve students of 18th-century art history for the next century. Relying on first-hand inspection of the works wherever possible and using current techniques and methodology, the authors present an important reexamination of the paintings along with new insights into studio practices and procedures of the period. The introductory essays are examples of art history at its best, with no sacrifice of clarity to scholarship. The text volume is divided into portraits (including self-portraits) and subject pictures, landscapes, and copies after old masters, all in alphabetical order. Each entry has a wealth of detail that includes descriptive, historical, and bibliographical data as well as listings of any copies; also included are the dates of sittings, comments made about the work, and the price paid. The plates volume follows much the same order, with the addition of 136 excellent color plates of varying themes; these are followed by black-and-white illustrations of portraits in chronological order, with the subject pictures following in alphabetical order. Extensive endmatter and appendixes complete the book. An outstanding example of art history at its best, these volumes will serve their readers in many ways and for many years.DPaula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
This splendid two-volume catalogue of the paintings of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), the father of British portrait painting and first president of the Royal Academy, represents one of the most important scholarly projects of recent decades in the field of eighteenth-century British art. Reynolds's paintings - well over 2,000 - are scattered across the world in hundreds of public and private collections and libraries. The catalogue includes an illustration of nearly all of the artist's works and offers a critical re-examination of each painting, taking full advantage of modern methods and the findings of conservation experts. David Mannings provides the entries for the portraits, and Martin Postle contributes the entries for Reynolds's historical and fancy pictures.
Taking into account two centuries of art criticism and the observations of leading modern authorities, the catalogue also considers such enlightening documents as the artist's sitter-books and ledgers. It re-examines Reynolds' studio practice and procedures, working methods, use of assistants and prices, and it delineates with new clarity the distinction between Reynolds's work and that of his many followers and imitators.
