Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.761
Gallery Label:
According to Horace Walpole, “Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Ramsay can scarce be rivals; their manners are so different. The former is bold and has a kind of tempestuous colouring . . . the latter is all delicacy. Mr. Reynolds seldom succeeds in women; Mr. Ramsay is formed to paint them.” The wistfulness of this unidentified young woman’s expression, the informality of her pose, and the delicacy of Ramsay’s treatment of the lace, hair, flowers, and pale skin, all support Walpole’s assessment. Ramsay and Reynolds were indeed rivals, although the sharp contrast between each artist’s distinctive approach to his intimate, half-length female subject is less apparent today than it was two hundred years ago. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016