Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA FRS FRSA
Self-portrait, c. 1750
Born	(1723-07-16)16 July 1723 Plympton, Devon, England
Died	23 February 1792(1792-02-23) (aged 68) Leicester Fields, London, England
Resting place	St Paul's Cathedral
Education	Plympton Free Grammar School
Notable work	The Age of Innocence
Signature

Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. Art critic John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century^[1] while Lucy Peltz says he was "the leading portrait artist of the 18th-century and arguably one of the greatest artists in the history of art."^[2] He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting, which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts and was knighted by George III in 1769.