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Portrait Of James Boswell
''Portrait of James Boswell'' is a 1785 portrait painting by the English artist Joshua Reynolds depicting the Scottish author James Boswell. At the time Reynolds was President of the Royal Academy and Britain's leading portraitist, although he faced competition from Thomas Gainsborough and George Romney. Boswell subsequently became best-known for writing the ''Life of Samuel Johnson'', a biography of his friend the celebrated writer Samuel Johnson. Both Reynolds and Boswell were members of The Club (dining club), The Club, a London dining society that included leading figures of Georgian Britain. Boswell had a number of sittings over the course of the summer, the last of which took place after they had breakfasted together. The work was displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Academy's Royal Academy Exhibition of 1787, Summer Exhibition of 1787 at Somerset House. Today the painting is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery in Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy Peltz says he was "the leading portrait artist of the 18th-century and arguably one of the greatest artists in the history of art." He promoted the Grand manner, "Grand Style" in painting, which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts and was Knight Bachelor, knighted by George III in 1769. He has been referred to as the 'master who revolutionised British Art.' Reynolds had a famously prolific studio that produced over 2,000 paintings during his lifetime. Ellis Waterhouse, EK Waterhouse estimated those works the painter did ‘think worthy’ at ‘hardly less than a hundred paintings which one would like to take into consideration, either for their success, their original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Club (dining Club)
The Club or Literary Club is a London dining club founded in February 1764 by Joshua Reynolds, Samuel Johnson, and Edmund Burke. Description Initially, the Club would meet one evening per week at seven, at the Turk's Head Inn in Gerrard Street, London, Gerrard Street, Soho. Later, meetings were reduced to once per fortnight whilst Parliament was in session, and were held at rooms in St James's Street. Though the initial formation was proposed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Samuel Johnson became the person most closely associated with the Club. John Timbs, in his ''Club Life in London'', gives an account of the Club's centennial dinner in 1864, which was celebrated at the Clarendon hotel. Henry Hart Milman, the English historian, was treasurer. The Club's toast, no doubt employing a bit of wishful thinking, was "''Esto perpetua''", Latin for "Let it be perpetual". This Latin phrase traces its origin to the last dying declaration of Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623) the Venetian theologian, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paintings In The National Portrait Gallery, London
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush. Other implements, such as palette knives, sponges, airbrushes, the artist's fingers, or even a dripping technique that uses gravity may be used. One who produces paintings is called a painter. In art, the term "painting" describes both the act and the result of the action (the final work is called "a painting"). The support for paintings includes such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, pottery, leaf, copper and concrete, and the painting may incorporate other materials, in single or multiple form, including sand, clay, paper, cardboard, newspaper, plaster, gold leaf, and even entire objects. Painting is an important form of visual arts, visual art, bringing in elements such as drawing, Composition (visual art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portraits By Joshua Reynolds
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better represents personality and mood, this type of presentation may be chosen. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer, but portrait may be represented as a profile (from aside) and 3/4. History Prehistorical portraiture Plastered human skulls were reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient Levant between 9000 and 6000 BC in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period. They represent some of the oldest forms of art in the Middle Eas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1785 Paintings
Events January–March * January 1 ** The Burmese Konbaung Dynasty annexes the Mrauk U Kingdom of Arakan. ** The first issue of the ''Daily Universal Register'', later known as ''The Times'', is published in London. * January 7 – Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a hydrogen gas balloon, becoming the first to cross the English Channel by air. * January 11 – Richard Henry Lee is elected as President of the U.S. Congress of the Confederation.''Harper's Encyclopaedia of United States History from 458 A. D. to 1909'', ed. by Benson John Lossing and, Woodrow Wilson (Harper & Brothers, 1910) p167 * January 20 – Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút: Invading Siamese forces, attempting to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong River by the Tây Sơn. * January 27 – The University of Georgia in the United States is chartered by the Georgia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blinking Sam
''Portrait of Samuel Johnson'', also known as ''Blinking Sam'', is an oil-painted portrait of English lexicographer Samuel Johnson reading, created by English artist Joshua Reynolds around 1775. The painting highlights Johnson's vision problems, which led Johnson to deride the painting and say that he would not be "Blinking Sam", as quoted in Hester Thrale's ''Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson''. The artwork has since been noted to be the "best-known" portrait of Johnson, and became an Internet meme in 2012. The painting is located at The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, United States, where it is on display. Background Samuel Johnson was an English author and lexicographer, and is considered to be "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history" by the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. He established his literary reputation with the publication of ''A Dictionary of the English Language'', the "first full collation of the English la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle is built on the site of a Tudor period, Tudor palace ("Old Somerset House") originally belonging to the Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, Duke of Somerset. The present Somerset House was designed by William Chambers (architect), Sir William Chambers, begun in 1776, and was further extended with Victorian era outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. The site of Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s. The great Georgian era structure was built to be a grand public building housing various government and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around the arts and education. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Academy Exhibition Of 1787
The Royal Academy of 1787 was the nineteenth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at Somerset House in London between 30 April and 19 June 1787. With the absence of Thomas Gainsborough and George Romney, both of whom were boycotting the Academy, the President of the Royal Academy Sir Joshua Reynolds was preeminent in the field or portraiture. He sent in thirteen paintings that year. Notable amongst his works was a portrait of George, Prince of Wales the eldest son and heir of George III. At the time controversy was brewing over the secret marriage the prince had conducted, and Reynolds may have tactfully halted completion on his ''Portrait of Maria Fitzherbert'' in order to not have it ready in time to feature at the exhibition. Reynolds attracted praise for his ''Heads of Angels'' and ''Lady Smith and Her Children''. In addition Reynolds displayed his ''Portrait of James Boswell'', featuring the Scottish author and fellow member of The Club ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Academy Of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the fine arts through exhibitions, education and debate. History The origin of the Royal Academy of Arts lies in an attempt in 1755 by members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, principally the sculptor Henry Cheere, to found an autonomous academy of arts. Before this, several artists were members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, including Cheere and William Hogarth, or were involved in small-scale private art academies, such as the St Martin's Lane Academy. Although Cheere's attempt failed, the eventual charter, called an 'Instrument', used to establish the Royal Academy of Arts over a decade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgian Britain
The Georgian era was a period in British history from 1714 to , named after the Hanoverian kings George I, George II, George III and George IV. The definition of the Georgian era is also often extended to include the relatively short reign of William IV, which ended with his death in 1837. The subperiod that is the Regency era is defined by the regency of George IV as Prince of Wales during the illness of his father George III. The transition to the Victorian era was characterized in religion, social values, and the arts by a shift in tone away from rationalism and toward romanticism and mysticism. The term '' Georgian'' is typically used in the contexts of social and political history and architecture. The term ''Augustan literature'' is often used for Augustan drama, Augustan poetry and Augustan prose in the period 1700–1740s. The term ''Augustan'' refers to the acknowledgement of the influence of Latin literature from the ancient Roman Republic. The term ''Georgian era ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford, until lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London and began writing for ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. Early works include '' Life of Mr Richard Savage'', the poems ''London'' and '' The Vanity of Human Wishes'' and the play '' Irene''. After nine years of effort, Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'' appeared in 1755, and was acclaimed as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". Later work included essays, an annotated '' The Plays of William Shakespeare'', and the apologue '' The Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oil Painting
Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on copper, copper for several centuries. The advantages of oil for painting images include "greater flexibility, richer and denser color, the use of layers, and a wider range from light to dark". The oldest known oil paintings were created by Buddhism, Buddhist artists in Afghanistan, and date back to the 7th century AD. Oil paint was later developed by Europeans for painting statues and woodwork from at least the 12th century, but its common use for painted images began with Early Netherlandish painting in Northern Europe, and by the height of the Renaissance, oil painting techniques had almost completely replaced the use of egg tempera paints for panel paintings in most of Europe, though not for Orthodox icons or wall paintings, where tempera a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
