A Study of Joshua Reynolds' Theory of Imitation—Focusing on Fifteen Discourses Delivered in the Royal Academy

Abstract

<p>雷諾茲（Joshua Reynolds）是英國皇家美術學院的創始人及第一任院長，也是英國新古典主義繪畫的代表人物。他的《皇家美術學院十五講》是重要的理論著作。雷諾茲在演講中提出藝術創作的相關理論與指導原則。雷諾茲希望透過他的演講，與學生分享經驗，指引他們方向並縮短摸索的過程。他在演講中提倡一種知性的、普遍的理想美，這種美可以提升藝術家的品味與作品的質量，也可以使藝術家改善社會地位，將繪畫提升到自由藝術的層級，與工匠劃清界線。他的演講不僅反映了他的藝術觀點，也體現了英國十八世紀藝文界的思潮和歐陸數百年的藝術理論。模仿論是雷諾茲理論的核心內容，因此本文欲透過雷諾茲《皇家美術學院十五講》，找出雷諾茲的模仿理論及其思想的來源。</p> <p> </p><p>Sir Joshua Reynolds was an iconic British neoclassical painter, known as the founder and first dean of the Royal Academy of Arts. His book Fifteen Discourses Delivered in the Royal Academy is an important theoretical work. In it, Reynolds pro-posed a theory/ theories and guiding principles of artistic creation. In his speeches lectures, he advocated an intellectual, universal, and ideal version? vision? conceptu-alization? of beauty to that would? enhance artists’ taste and the quality of their work. Moreover, this beauty enabled artists to improve their social status, enhanced the standing of painting by making it into a liberal art, and definitively severed ties be-tween artists and artisans. Reynolds hoped to use his speeches lectures to share his ex-perience with his students, guide them in their artistic direction development and simplified simplify their process journey of discovery. His speeches lectures not only reflected his artistic viewpoints, but also embodied represented? British art and litera-ture during the eighteenth century, as well as the art theories of art developed in Brit-ain and the European continent over hundreds of years. His theoretical focus is based on the idea of idealized imitation. Therefore, this article intends to uses Reynolds’s Fifteen Discourses Delivered in the Royal Academy to explore his theory of imitation and analyze the sources of his thoughts and views.</p> <p> </p>