Seventeen paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds – the leading English portraitist of the 18th-century – will go on display at Kenwood in London to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the painter’s birth (16 July 1723). Spanning virtually the entirety of his career, from one of his earliest to his very last, Spotlight on Reynolds: Lord Iveagh’s Favourite Artist at 300 includes portraits of leading society ladies, the children of aristocrats, politicians and businessmen, and the artist himself. Ahead of the anniversary, the display will open to the public from 13 July for free and will run until 19 November 2023.

One of the most celebrated artists in British history, Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) dominated artistic life in the eighteenth century over the course of a career spanning more than fifty years. From the portrait of Catherine Moore, painted in Paris in 1752 when a young Reynolds was returning from his studies in Italy, to Miss Cocks and her Niece, one of the last paintings begun by Reynolds before the loss of his sight around 1790, the exceptional collection at Kenwood spans the artist’s lifetime, displaying his mastery of colour, bravura brushwork and inventiveness of composition. Displayed across the Breakfast Room and the Music Room of the historic London villa, these paintings will be accompanied by Reynolds’ 1788 Self-Portrait. Painted when the artist was around 65, it is the only self-portrait to show Reynolds wearing spectacles, which he had done since at least 1783, when he had complained of a 'violent inflammation' in the eyes. Examination of two pairs of surviving spectacles have revealed that Reynolds was short-sighted, and although he wouldn’t have needed spectacles to read and to paint, he used them in his self-portrait to show himself as a man of intellect.

Louise Cooling, English Heritage’s Curator at Kenwood, said: “Joshua Reynolds’ effect on British art in the eighteenth century was truly transformative, and it’s a privilege to be able to mark the tercentenary of his birth with such a rich collection of his paintings. From his admiration of the ‘Old Masters’ to his experimental – and often divisive – techniques, he created portraits imbued with the heroic and poetic. As President of the Royal Academy, Reynolds not only promoted his own influential theory of art but used his influence to raise the status of British art and artists. We know Reynolds painted Lord Mansfield (owner of Kenwood) here in 1785, so beginning with one of his early works and charting the course of his life to the final poignant portrait before his death, Kenwood’s display uniquely celebrates Reynolds’ legacy.”

Although none could question the quality of his portraiture, Reynolds’ eccentric techniques are entirely another matter. The faded, darkened and cracked condition of many of Reynolds’ paintings, including a number in the collection at Kenwood, attests to the problems caused by the artist diverging from known systematic techniques. Reynolds’ experiments with materials were born out of a desire to emulate the qualities he most admired in the work of the Old Masters and to create new effects of colour, tone and depth. However, Reynolds’ indiscriminate experiments with pigments, wax, resins and varnish have reduced a significant number of his paintings to relics of their former glory. Two paintings in the Kenwood collection (Master Philip Yorke and Miss Cocks and her Niece) have recently undergone gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), as well as infrared and x-ray imaging, to assess their condition. Although Master Philip Yorke was unfortunately unable to be conserved owing to Reynolds’ experimentations, Miss Cocks and her Niece has been cleaned by English Heritage conservators, wiping away the yellowing varnish to reveal vivid blues and rosy cheeks.

Also on display are three show-stopping full-lengths that span the early 1770s to the early 1780s: Mrs Tollemache as Miranda, Lady Louisa Manners and Mrs Musters as Hebe. These paintings personify the ambitious, role-playing ‘Grand Manner’ portraiture for which Reynolds became famous, in which his sitters were assigned characters and narratives from literature, art, mythology and history and which drew on elevated artistic precedents. Additionally, this group of portraits, all three of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy, aptly demonstrate Reynolds’ mastery of the exhibition picture as a means through which to compete in the public area of art and to promote his own artistic theories.

Spotlight on Reynolds opens to the public on Thursday 13 July, in advance of the tercentenary on Sunday 16 July. Admission is free.