Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
after <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-joshua-reynolds-444" aria-label="More by Sir Joshua Reynolds" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir Joshua Reynolds</a>
Puck or Robin Goodfellow
Purchased 1942
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
actions: expressive
body
boy
characters
children
fairy
head / face
literature and fiction
magic and occultism
people
Puck
religion and belief
Shakespeare
smiling
<p>Puck is a household fairy and prankster. In <span>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</span>, Shakespeare casts him as the servant of Oberon, king of the fairies. This is a study for Joshua Reynolds’s painting for the Shakespeare Gallery, which also published luxurious illustrated editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Reynolds imagined Puck sitting on a toadstool. He has pointed ears, like ancient Greek images of Pan, the mischievous classical god of the woods. Pointed ears became a common feature in depictions of fairies.</p><p><em>Gallery label, October 2020</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
12 October 2020 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
12 October 2020 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
2020-10-12
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-10-12
Fairy Painting
Collection based display
29 October 2024 – 30 September 2025
2025-09-30
30 October 2024 – 2 February 2025
2025-02-02
2024-10-30
Reggia di Venaria Reale (Turin, Italy)
1 September 2025 – 31 January 2026
2026-01-31
2025-09-01
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest, Hungary)
1 March 2026 – 31 August 2026
2026-08-31
2026-03-01
External
2024-10-29
William Blake and the Age of Romantic Fantasy: British Art & Imagination
Loan-out
Puck or Robin Goodfellow
support: 368 × 298 mm
frame: 576 × 522 × 78 mm
Purchased 1942
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<p>Puck is a household fairy and prankster. In <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, Shakespeare casts him as the servant of Oberon, king of the fairies. This is a study for Joshua Reynolds’s painting for the Shakespeare Gallery, which also published luxurious illustrated editions of Shakespeare’s plays. Reynolds imagined Puck sitting on a toadstool. He has pointed ears, like ancient Greek images of Pan, the mischievous classical god of the woods. Pointed ears became a common feature in depictions of fairies.</p>
</div>

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2020-10-22T00:00:00
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actions: expressive ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ body boy characters children fairy head / face literature and fiction magic and occultism people Puck religion and belief Shakespeare smiling