Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.520
Gallery Label:
When Reynolds painted this portrait of Robinson, the celebrated actress and writer was facing personal loss and chronic illness, which may explain her contemplative demeanor as she looks out over a cloud-darkened seascape. Due to her poor health, Robinson left fashionable London society to devote herself to writing poetry and novels as well as advocating for the rights of women and their place in the literary world. --- This unfinished canvas reveals the artist’s working process. Robinson’s face is clearly defined but her body and the background are only sketched in. Through the paint, it is possible to see that Reynolds followed the common practice of reusing canvases: another sitter’s loosely rendered face appears, upside down, in the place where Robinson’s right hand should be. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2025
