Enfilade

Joshua Reynolds, Self-Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA, detail, ca. 1780, oil on panel, 127 × 102 cm
(London: Royal Academy of Arts, 03/1394)

◊    ◊    ◊    ◊    ◊

This fall at the RA in London:

Reynolds and His Circle: A Weekend Course
Royal Academy of Arts, London, 30 September and 1 October 2023, 10.00–5.00 each day

2023 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Royal Academy’s first President, Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792). This two-day art history weekend explores the life and work of one of Britain’s most important artists. The course offers participants an in-depth insight into Sir Joshua Reynolds and his work—via lectures, talks, and archive visits with leading art historians and experts.

The weekend will contextualise the many paintings and prints of Reynolds, looking at his work through various prisms: from the importance of portraiture and the rise of celebrity culture, to questions of Britishness and empire. We will explore what it meant to be Britain’s leading artist at the end of the eighteenth century and learn about his intrinsic role in the creation of the Royal Academy of Arts. The course will also address Reynolds’s artistic contemporaries and followers including Thomas Gainsborough, Angelica Kauffman, and Sir Thomas Lawrence. As well as providing a snapshot of the artistic life of eighteenth-century society, the course takes an object-based approach—looking at some of Reynolds’s most famous works in depth, along with a visit to the RA archive to see ephemera related to the artist and the founding of the RA.

No prior knowledge is required and debate and discussion are encouraged. The course fee of £420 includes light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of the first day.