The Strawberry Girl
Arguably Reynolds' most famous fancy picture, this work belongs to a genre he started painting in the 1770s featuring young children, often dressed in exotic costumes and situated in fantastical locations. The painting aims to elicit pity in the viewer; curator Lucy Davis notes how "the young figure's large, deep-set eyes stare intensely at the viewer, and her timid, hunched posture creates a pathetic effect." Reynolds often used poor children as models, which could lend authenticity to the sad life that this young sitter presumably lived, although her identity remains unknown.
While strawberry sellers were a common sight in 18th century London, they were typically young women rather than children. Reynolds employs dramatic license in the painting by removing the figure from an urban setting, placing her in front of a looming rocky outcrop, and inventing an exotic costume. These details contribute to a slightly surreal and unsettling quality in the work. Additionally, the pale color palette of the painting, although due to fading, heightens its sense of the uncanny. Reynolds experimented with new paints and pigments, which has caused fading, blistering, and cracking in some of his works.
Reynolds greatly enjoyed painting fancy pictures, as documented by his biographers. James Northcote, who worked as his assistant, noted that Reynolds would spend days and weeks working on his fancy subjects, often at the expense of his unfinished portraits. Northcote stated, "such was his delight in working on those fancy subjects that he was content to indulge it even at the expense of his immediate interest."
