Sir Joshua Reynolds Self Portrait 1780 Royal Academy Painting Postcard

RA*  This is a beautiful undated but modern published official postcard from Londons Royal Academy Of Arts for this great painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds of his own self portrait dated 1780 with artist details, dates, dimensions etc & Royal Academy Of Arts logo on reverse being the official souvenir from when exhibited unused and mint. 

In this stately portrayal, Reynolds celebrated his role as the first President of the Royal Academy, the 'premier artist of the British School and...the country's leading cultural figure' (Tate 2005, p.73). Reynolds was 57 by the time he painted this work, he had run the Academy for over a decade and was in the process of successfully overseeing its move into an elegant suite of purpose-built rooms at New Somerset House. The portrait is believed to have been painted specifically to hang in the Academy's new Assembly Room as a pendant to Reynolds' portrait of the architect of Somerset House and Treasurer of the Royal Academy.