After Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792) Copy After Reynolds' Self-Portrait of c. 1788

Description:

After Sir Joshua Reynolds (British, 1723-1792)

Copy After Reynolds' Self-Portrait of c. 1788
Unsigned, inscribed "H.K./119" in white chalk on the reverse, also with various markings in white chalk on the stretcher.
Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in. (76.5 x 63.5 cm),framed.
Condition: Lined, retouch primarily to fill lines of craquelure, craquelure overall with areas of lifting in the background.

Provenance: Collection of the late Joseph E. Connolly (1950-2020) of Eaton Place, London. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, Mr. Connolly lived in Europe most of his professional life, including Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, and Zurich, pursuing a varied career as an internationalist, a banker, an educator, and a patron of the arts and libraries. Among the many charitable boards on which he served was the Advisory Board of Scholar Rescue, which supports scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries, and he was appointed as a US Commissioner for the Public within the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

N.B. This self-portrait, created towards the end of his career, shows the artist wearing spectacles due to his shortsightedness. The portrait was said to be an excellent likeness of Reynolds at this stage of life, described by the artist's friend Edmond Malone, as "exactly as he appeared in his latter days, in domestick [sic] life." The original is in the British Royal Collection.

The portrait was immensely popular among Reynolds' many admirers, and it was reproduced in oil in different versions, copies, and sizes. The Dulwitch Picture Gallery has one similar in size to the copy at hand, described by the museum as a studio replica. In the Dulwitch version, as in this one, the sitter's left arm, which in the original was raised as if in the act of painting, has been lowered.
Estimate $800-1,200

Framed dimensions are 36 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches.


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