Jonathan Richardson the Elder
Jonathan Richardson (London 12 January 1667 – 28 May 1745 London) sometimes called "the Elder" to distinguish him from his son (Jonathan Richardson the Younger) was an English artist, collector of drawings, and writer on art, working almost entirely as a portrait-painter in London. He was considered by some art-critics as one of the three foremost painters of his time. He was the master of Thomas Hudson and George Knapton.[1] Richardson was even more influential as a writer; he is credited with inspiring Joshua Reynolds to paint and theorise with his book An Essay on the Theory of Painting.[1] This book is credited with being "the first significant work of artistic theory in English."[2]
Life
Alexander Pope (attributed to Richardson, c. 1736)
Thomas Fanshawe (1696—1758), 4th of Parsloes Manor, (attributed to Richardson), ca. 1736.
Richardson was born in the parish of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate in London on 12 January 1667 to William and Mary Richardson. In 1672 his father died and his mother married again.[3] Richardson became a scrivener's apprentice, but he was released early when his master retired. Richardson was lucky enough to be taken on as a painting apprentice by John Riley. He learnt the art of portraiture from Riley whilst living at his master's house. Richardson's wife was Riley's niece.[4]
Richardson was even more influential as a writer than as a painter according to Samuel Johnson. He is credited with inspiring Joshua Reynolds to paint and theorise with his 1715 book An Essay on the Theory of Painting.[1] In 1722, Richardson published with his son, also Jonathan (1694–1771), An Account of Some of the Statues, Bas-Reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy (1722). The book was compiled by Richardson the elder using material gathered by his son whilst touring Italy in 1721. This was a very popular book and was used by young men as a basis for their Grand Tour. It was said that the book became the basis for future purchases of art by wealthy collectors and therefore shaped English interest in foreign old masters.[5] It also provided an important model for Johann Joachim Winckelmann's History of Art (1764).[6] Richardson and his son also co-authored their Explanatory Notes and Remarks on Milton's Paradise Lost (1734). These notes are, in part, a response to Richard Bentley's 1732 edition of Paradise Lost, in which he frequently faults Milton's style or places exceptionable passages in square brackets, claiming they are the work of another hand. The Richardsons' responses to Bentley helped to lay the foundation for subsequent interpretation of the poem.[7][8]
Legacy
Richardson was considered as one of the three foremost painters of his time with Charles Jervas and Michael Dahl. He was also an excellent and prolific draughtsman, and made a number of chalk drawings of friends and family. He was the master of Thomas Hudson and George Knapton. He painted and drew many self-portraits, which are highly regarded today.[1] Richardson has over 120 paintings in public ownership in the United Kingdom.[9]
When the elder Richardson died in Bloomsbury on 28 May 1745 he left four daughters, one of whom married Thomas Hudson the painter,[4] who had previously been Richardson's pupil. He was also survived by his son, Jonathan Richardson the Younger (1694–1771), who was brought up as a gentlemen; he dabbled in painting and printmaking. Horace Walpole stated that he "painted a little" but whatever works he created are now lost.[4][10] He left a large and valuable collection of 4,749 old master drawings, which together with the rest of Richardson's art collection were auctioned by Sotheby's over eighteen days. Today a drawing that still bears Richardson's collector's mark gains substantially in value. Richardson has been described as one of the "greatest collectors of drawings of all time".[11]
Works
Fisher Harding Master Shipwright with the launch of the Royal Sovereign 1701
An Essay on the Theory of Painting (1715)
An Essay on the Whole Art of Criticism as it Relates to Painting and an Argument in Behalf of the Science of a Connoisseur (1719)
An Account of Some of the Statues, Bas-Reliefs, Drawings, and Pictures in Italy (1722)
Explanatory notes and remarks on Milton's Paradise lost By J. Richardson, father and son. With the life of the author, and a discourse on the poem.
References
Jonathan Richardson, London – National Portrait Gallery, accessed January 2010
Jonathan Richardson the elder, Getty Museum, accessed January 2009
Carol Gibson-Wood, 'Richardson, Jonathan, the elder (1667–1745)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 31 July 2013
Jonathon Richardson, Dictionary of National Biography, accessed January 2010
Jonathan Richardson, Dictionary of Art Historians, accessed January 2009
Katherine Harloe, Winckelmann and the Invention of Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 2013
Carol Gibson-Wood, Jonathan Richardson: Art Theorist of the English Enlightenment, Yale University Press
John Leonard, Faithful Labourers: A Reception History of Paradise Lost, Oxford University Press, 2013
133 Painting(s) by or after Jonathon Richardson the Elder at the Art UK site
Getty ULAN
Finsten, Jill (1993). "A Self Portrait of Jonathan Richardson". The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal. J. Paul Getty Trust. 21: 43–54. JSTOR 4166635.; Frits Lugt, Les marques de collections de dessins & d'estampes, 1921 & 1956, nos L.2183 and L.2184 Lugt online
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