Reynolds Portrait
Sir Joshua Reynolds painted his famous portrait, "Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse," in 1784, and signed it on the hem of her dress, "for," he told her, "I have resolved to go down to posterity on the hem of your garment."
In 1950, Joseph Mankiewicz used the portrait extensively in All About Eve. The portrait itself is hung at the top of the entrance staircase to Margo's apartment where it is seen at various times throughout the party scene, from Addison and Claudia's arrival to the close-up of it with which the scene ends. Additionally, he invented the (then) fictitious Sarah Siddons Society and its award, which is a statuette modeled upon the painting. The film opens with a close-up of the award, and ends with Phoebe holding it.
In 1957, Bette Davis posed as Sarah Siddons in a re-creation of the painting staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters.
Read more about this topic: Sarah Siddons
Famous quotes containing the words reynolds and/or portrait:
“My dear dear Mother,
If you don’t let me come home I die—I am all over ink,
and my fine clothes have been spoilt—I have been tost in a blanket, and seen a ghost.
I remain, my dear dear Mother,
Your dutiful and most unhappy son,
Freddy.
P.S. Remember me to my Father.”
—Frederick Reynolds (18th century)
“Giles Lacey: I say, old boy, I’m trying to find exactly what your wife does do.
Maxim de Winter: She sketches a little.
Giles Lacey: Sketches. Oh not this modern stuff, I hope. You know, portrait of a lamp shade upside down to represent a soul in torment.”
—Robert E. Sherwood (1896–1955)