Reynolds and Gainsborough: The Battle for Beauty

Sir Joshua Reynolds brought romance, drama and classical grandeur to portraiture with his invention of the “Grand Manner,” turning society portraiture into a weapon of prestige. Meanwhile Thomas Gainsborough unleashed his sitters in a flurry of magical brushwork — those “odd scratches and marks” that, by “a kind of magic,” transform into luminous faces and fabrics.

Fiercely competitive yet dazzlingly gifted, these two artists shaped the Golden Age of British portraiture. This is a story of rivalry, celebrity, and the creation of a national style.