Jane Fleming, later Countess of Harrington 1779

Joshua Reynolds created this portrait of Jane Fleming, later Countess of Harrington, using oil paint, a medium that has a fascinating material history. Reynolds was a master of its application; look closely, and you’ll see how he used the viscous quality of the paint to create texture and depth, especially in the rendering of fabric. The painting is less about the sitter’s individual characteristics, and more about her social status; notice how Reynolds uses the material qualities of the paint to construct an image of aristocratic elegance. Reynolds’s work, and his mastery of oil paint as a medium, became a symbol of British artistic achievement during a period of rapid industrial expansion. While his subjects enjoyed lives of leisure, the pigments he used were the product of global trade and extraction. The making of such artworks were therefore always tied to wider social issues of labor, politics, and consumption. Considering these factors, the significance of materials, making, and context is crucial to understand the full meaning of an artwork, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.