Study of a Woman and Child 1745 - 1792

Joshua Reynolds made this pencil drawing titled 'Study of a Woman and Child.' In eighteenth-century Britain, Reynolds was a leading portrait painter and the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. His work tells us a lot about the social functions of art at the time. Reynolds's portraits were in high demand by the wealthy and powerful, and the Royal Academy played a key role in shaping artistic taste and training artists. Although this sketch might seem informal, images of mothers and children were highly conventional, with painters often referencing the ultimate maternal image of the Virgin and Child, and associating the virtues of antiquity with elite families. Reynolds’s art represents the tastes of the British upper classes. He helped define the artistic standards of his time. To learn more, explore archives of the Royal Academy and consult collections of portraits in country houses. By studying these resources, we can better understand the social world that shaped Reynolds's art and the institutions through which this art gained meaning.