Mary Robinson (née Darby)

Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723–1792

ca. 1784

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A woman is depicted in profile, facing left, with her hair styled up. She wears a light-colored dress and a dark choker around her neck. A woman is depicted in profile, facing left, with her hair styled up. She wears a light-colored dress and a dark choker around her neck. When Reynolds painted this portrait of Robinson, the celebrated actress and writer was facing personal loss and chronic illness, which may explain her contemplative demeanor as she looks out over a cloud-darkened seascape. Due to her poor health, Robinson left fashionable London society to devote herself to writing poetry and novels as well as advocating for the rights of women and their place in the literary world. This unfinished canvas reveals the artist’s working process. Robinson’s face is cle