Mrs Grimston

Artist Sir Joshua Reynolds (Plymouth, England, 1723 - 1792)

Date1756

Mediumoil on canvas

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsSight Size: 73.8 x 61cm
Frame - Height: c. 104 cm, Width: 87 cm, Depth: 9 cm

AcquisitionOn loan from a Private Collection.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationOn Display - Gallery 18

Object numberABDAG014290

Keywords

About MeSir Joshua Reynolds was an English portrait painter who dominated English artistic and polite society in the middle and late 18th century. He attempted to steer British painting away from the anecdotal and towards a more formal 'Grand Style' favoured on the Continent. In 1768 he became the first President of the newly founded Royal Academy in London.

This portrait of Mrs Grimston was painted in 1756. Although painted in the style of the "Grand Manner" popular on the Continent, it remains a subtle depiction of the sitter. Reynolds was renowned for his sympathetic treatment of women and children in his portraits. Mrs Grimston was married to John Grimston, a gentleman of Yorkshire. She is painted wearing a white silk gown decorated with blue bows over a very pale blue undergown which is decorated with lace. She wears a thin black choker around her neck and feathers in her dark hair. This portrait was probably painted at the time of the sitter's wedding. Just two years later, most probably as the result of complications during childbirth, Mrs Grimston died. She was just twenty six years old.

More About Me

Collections Wall

The choker necklace, as seen on Mrs Grimston here, can be traced back to Ancient Egyptian society where jewellery was used to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body.

Exhibitions

Gallery 18 - People & Portraits