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Quote by Joshua Reynolds

Work

The Complete Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds: First President of the Royal Academy : with an Original Memoir, and Anecdotes of the Author

The Complete Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds is a comprehensive compilation of the artistic contributions of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy. The book offers a detailed look into his extensive portfolio, accompanied by an original memoir that provides insight into his life and career. Additionally, the book includes anecdotes that offer a personal glimpse into the author's life and times. more

Author

Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds

Joshua Reynolds was an influential English painter, recognized for his portraits and landscapes. Born on July 16, 1723, and passing away on February 23, 1792, Reynolds played a significant role in the development of the English portrait school and is often considered the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. more

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“The great end of all arts is to make an impression on the imagination and the feeling. The imitation of nature frequently does this. Sometimes it fails and something else succeeds.”

“Though colour may appear at first a part of painting merely mechanical, yet it still has its rules, and those grounded upon that presiding principle which regulates both the great and the little in the study of a painter.”

“The spectator, as he walks the gallery, will stop, or pass along. To give a general air of grandeur at first view, all trifling, or artful play of little lights, or an attention to a variety of tints is to be avoided; a quietness and simplicity must reign over the whole work, to which a breadth of uniform and simple color will very much contribute.”

“An artist who brings to his work a mind tolerably furnished with the general principles of art, and a taste formed upon the works of good artists – in short, who knows in what excellence consists - will, with the assistance of models... be an overmatch for the greatest painter that ever lived who should be debarred such advantages.”

“By leaving a student to himself he may... be led to undertake matters above his strength, but the trial will at least have this advantage: it will discover to himself his own deficiencies and this discovery alone is a very considerable acquisition.”

“Whatever trips you make, you must still have nature in your eye.”