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33 REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA, P. R. A. 1723-1792 LADY MARGARET BEAUTMONT — Half-length in oval, nearly full face turned to left, black dress, white muslin around the neck. On her head she wears delicate cap of dark material which is tied around the neck with a blue ribbon.

Margaret, daughter of John Willes of Astrop, Northampton, and grand-daughter of Lord Chief Justice Willes. Married May 6, 1778, Sir George Howland Beaumont, 7th Bart, died in the year 1829. This portrait was painted in 1779 or 1780 (see lists of Sir Joshua's sitters for March of each year in Leslie and Taylor's "Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Vol. II, p. 280 and 312).

The above authority states in Vol. II, p. 224, that "Some of his most charming female heads are of this period as Lady Beaumont, the beautiful wife of his friend Sir George." Lord Ronald Sutherland Gower, F. S. A., says in part in his book on Sir Joshua, p. 86: "Two beautiful ladies' portraits by Reynolds belong to this year, that of Lady Beaumont, wife of the artistic Baronet, and that of Mrs. Payne Galway."

Sir Walter Armstrong, in his work on Reynolds, p. 118, mentions this portrait, and that of Sir George Beaumont in his index, p. 193, and speaks of Lady Beaumont's portrait being exhibited in 1780, the year that saw the transfer of the Academy Exhibition to its new home in Somerset House.

Engraved by J. R. Smith (1780) and by S. W. Reynolds. Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1780, No. 12. Exhibited: British Institution, 1813, No. 107. Exhibited; British Institution, 1858, No. 165.

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Exhibited: National Portrait Exhibition, 1867, No. 548 Exhibited; Grosvenor Gallery, 1884, No. 183. Canvas: W. 25 1/8; H. 30 1/8. This picture comes from the family.

34 REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA, P. R. A. 1723-1792 SIR GEORGE HOWLAND BEAUMONT — Bust, face almost in profile, looking to the right, wears a black coat with white scarf around the neck and powdered wig.

Seventh Bart, D. C. L., F. R. S., and F. S. A. Only child of Sir George, 6th Bart. Born at Dunmow, Essex, in 1755, succeeded to the title in 1762. Educated at Eton and New College, Oxford. Married May 6, 1778, Margaret Willes, daughter of John Willes of Astrop, Northhampton, and Grand-daughter of Lord Chief Justice Willes. Sir George was distinguished as an amateur artist, and a liberal patron of art. He promoted the formation of the National Gallery, to which he presented in 1826 sixteen pictures. He died at Coleorton Hall in 1827.

This portrait was painted in 1787, and was exhibited in the Royal Academy of 1788 (see lists of Sir Joshua's sitters for June, 1787, and his exhibition list for 1788 in Leslie and Taylor's "Life and Times of SIr Joshua Reynolds," Vol. II, pp. 512 and 516).

A landscape by Sir George illustrating a scene from "As You Like It" and painted in 1819 is in the National Gallery.

Sir Walter Armstrong in his work on Gainsborough, p. 160, speaks of that artist being a frequent visitor to Sir George's town house. A sketch of Sir George's life appears in the Georgian Era, Vol. IV, p. 494

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