| Administrative History | Sir Joshua Reynolds [1723-1792]. Portrait painter and first President of the Royal Academy. Beattie first met him on his London visit in 1771. He painted an allegorical portrait of Beattie, "The Triumph of Truth", in 1773 |
| Description | Letter from Sir Joshua Reynolds, London, to James Beattie, about Reynolds' reading of Beattie's 'Essay' and his positive opinion of it and Reynolds' attempt at writing an essay. Letter thanks Beattie for his comparison of Reynolds' paintings to Raphael and Titian and says that this comparison is incorrect. Letter talks about Reynolds' technique of producing lines; mentions Hogarth's [William Hogarth (1697 - 1764), painter and engraver] lines; talks about beauty and doing things by habit, and says that at the time of receiving Beattie's 'Essay', he had been writing notes on Mr Mason's translation of Fresnoy's 'Poem on Painting'.
With transcript (contemporary) of same. Hand unidentified. |