Joshua Reynolds, the influential English painter from the 18th century, began his painting career by painting portraits commissioned by British military officers, and he continued painting such portraits throughout his career. Captain The Honourable Augustus Keppel (1753) is an example of one such portrait by, which although was not commissioned by Captain Augustus Keppel himself, but gave Reynolds the opportunity to enhance and expand his artistic endeavors. Later during the 18th century, Reynolds’ client base expanded to include celebrities who would also get their portrait painted by this great artist. Often celebrity portraits were reproduced and Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse (1784), which was re-commissioned and Reynolds completed another version in 1789, is one such example. While the two portraits have little in common and are separated by a period of at least 31 years, however, comparing them will most likely reveal interesting insights of the art period and these portraits themselves.
Interestingly, although these paintings are 31 years apart, they were both completed in the Rococo era, which itself lasted for almost 90 years. In Great Britain, portraiture had gained extreme popularity during this era. When Reynolds completed Captain Augustus Keppel’s portrait, the English Rococo era was at it heights and by the time he finished painting Sarah Siddons portrait, the impact of the era was still prominent. Perhaps this is why both portraits seem to reflect an opulent style that the Rococo era borrowed from the Baroque era that came before it, and is injected more flamboyantly in these portraits. Renowned was renowned for socializing in elite circles, which is how he ended up painting these portraits of Captain Augustus Keppel, who was a British Naval officer, and Mrs. Sarah Siddons, a well-known 18th century actress. He received considerable recognition for painting portraits of such London elite.
Reynolds’ portraits Captain The Honourable Augustus Keppel and Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse are unique for the time period because of the incorporation of boisterous and uproarious landscape into a classical portraits. Reynolds’ seems to have heavily relied on bold outlining and lighting effects as a technique for both these compositions, which seem to reinforce the natural harmony of the portraits. In Keppel’s portrait, the lighting seems to be streaming from the top right hand corner and the captain appears to be walking towards it, while in Siddons’s portrait, he has boldly outlined her presence and she is in full light. The subjects of both portraits seem to be on higher planes, and this is reaffirmed by the large rocks behind Keppel and the allegories of Pity and Terror behind Siddons, all of which are on deeper planes.
The color palette of both paintings seems to be different, with the exception of the orange shades in both paintings. In Keppel’s portrait contains a range of dark and muted browns, greens, oranges, purpose, yellows, and ultramarine. The central, primary color in the portrait is blue, which is used in the clothing and the sea. In, Siddons’s portrait, bright orange highlighting and elements of black have been used, such as in the sweeping shadows, and the boisterous background is in brown. Reynold’s has used red hues mixed with bright oranges in the sky to create an alluring and dramatic effect. Reynold’s seems to have used, fine, long and smooth strokes to pain the detail on Keppel’s clothing, while he has briskly applied pain in the waves while using the same brush stroke to convey the tumultuousness of the sea. Similarly, Reynold’s has used similar delicate and fine brush strokes to paint Siddons’s head, keeping her face to a fine and thin layer. It seems that while painting both these portraits, Reynolds may have been afraid of ruining the final outcome of the portraits as a result of over-glazing.
Both Captain The Honourable Augustus Keppel (1753) and Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse (1784), even though the latter was painted 31 years later, are prominent examples of the English Rococo era in which Reynolds achieved most of his artistic success. As seen in both portraits, Reynolds usually positioned his main subjects in the core lighting and he also accentuated his backgrounds. The color palettes of both portraits are also the typical color palette than Reynolds used throughout his career. Similarly, he never heavily applied his brush work, which is the reason the strokes were always fine and smooth, as in these two portraits. Despite having been completed years apart, the defining characteristics of Reynolds’ works of art remained the same, and since both portraits belong to the same era, so they are more similarities than differences.
References
Farington, J. (2005). Memoirs of sir joshua reynolds. Pallas Athene.
McPherson, H. (2000 ). Picturing tragedy: Mrs. siddons as the tragic muse revisited. Eighteenth-Century Studies,33(2), 401-430.
Reynolds, J. (2008). Seven discourses on art. Book Jungle.
Wendorf, R. (1998). Sir joshua reynolds: The painter in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
