Portrait of David Garrick (1717-1779), as

Antiques > Art Dealer: Artware Fineart Contact: Greg Page-Turner - Email Dealer
Price: $5,000.00 USD  - Currency Converter Shipping inside United Kingdom: Quoted at time of purchase Shipping outside United Kingdom: Quoted at time of purchase

Description: David Garrick (born 19 February 1717 in ford – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson. He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeare's Richard III audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of other roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the next five years and purchased a share of the theatre with James Lacy. This purchase inaugurated twenty-nine years of Garrick's management of the Drury Lane, during which time, it rose to prominence as one of the leading theatres in Europe. At his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at Westminster Abbey w he was laid in Poet's Corner.

As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the bombastic style that was entrenched when Garrick first came to prominence. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well. Furthermore, during his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick sought to reform audience behaviour. While this led to some discontent among the theatre-going public, many of his reforms eventually did take hold. In addition to audiences, Garrick sought reform in production matters, bringing an over-arching consistency to productions that included scenery, costumes and even special effects.

Garrick's influence extended into the literary side of theatre as well. Critics are almost unanimous in saying he was not a good playwright, but his work in bringing Shakespeare to contemporary audiences is notable. In addition, he adapted many older plays in the repertoire that might have been forgotten. These included many plays of the Restoration era. Indeed, while influencing the theatre towards a better standard he also gained a better reputation for theatre folk. This accomplishment led Samuel Johnson to remark that "his profession made him rich and he made his profession respectable."

Garrick was born into a family with French Huguenot roots that could be traced to the Languedoc region of southern France. Garrick's great-grandfather, David Garric, was in Bordeaux in 1685 when the Edict of Nantes was abolished, revoking the rights of Protestants in France. David Garrick fled to London and his son, Peter who was an infant at the time, was later smuggled out by a nurse when he was deemed old enough to make the journey. David Garrick became a British subject upon his arrival in Britain and anglicized the name to Garrick. At the time of David Garrick's birth in 1717, the family was living in the city of ford moving to Lichfield, home to Garrick's mother, shortly after his birth. His father, Captain Peter Garrick, was an army recruiting officer stationed, through most of young Garrick's childhood, in Gibraltar. Garrick was the third of five children and his younger brother, George (1723-1779), would be an aide to David for the remainder of his life. Playwright and actor, Charles Dibdin, recorded that George, discovering his brother's absence would often inquire "Did David want me?" Upon Garrick's death in 1779, it was noted that George died forty-eight hours later, leading some to speculate that "David wanted him." His nephew, Nathan Garrick, married Martha Leigh, daughter of Sir Egerton Leigh, Bart and sister of Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, author of Munster Abbey; a Romance: Interspersed with Reflections on Virtue and Morality (Edinburgh 1797).

Playbill from Garrick's debut as Richard III.At the age of nineteen, Garrick, who had been educated at Lichfield Grammar School, enrolled in Samuel Johnson's Edial Hall School. Garrick showed an enthusiasm for the theatre very early on and he appeared in a school production around this time in the role of Sergeant Kite in George Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer. After Johnson's school was closed, he and Garrick, now friends, travelled to London together in order to seek their fortunes. Upon his arrival in 1737, Garrick and his brother became partners in a wine business with operations in both London and Lichfield with David taking the London operation. The business did not flourish, possibly due to Garrick's distraction by amateur theatricals. Playwright Samuel Foote remarked that he had known Garrick to have only three quarts of vinegar in his cellar and still calling himself a wine merchant.Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream. O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me! -- Shakespeare's Richard III Act V, Sc. 3. David Garrick in 1745 as Richard III just before the battle of Bosworth Field, his sleep having been haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered, wakes to the realization that he is alone in the world and death is imminent. Painting by English painter, William Hogarth.In 1740, four years after Garrick's arrival in London and with his wine business failing, he saw his first play, a satire, Lethe: or Aesop in the Shade, produced at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.Within a year he was appearing professionally playing small parts at the Goodman's Fields Theatre under the management of Henry Giffard. The Goodman's Fields Theatre had been shuttered by the Licensing Act of 1737 which closed all theatres that did not hold the letters patent and required all plays to be approved by the Lord Chamberlain before performance. Garrick's performances at the theatre was a result of Giffard's help with Garrick's wine business. Giffard had helped Garrick win the business of the Bedford Coffee-house, an establishment patronized by many theatrical and literary people and a location Garrick frequented.

Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788) was an English painter, etcher and scientist.[1] He was the 14th child of Major Wilson, a wealthy York clothier whose house was decorated by a French artist, Jacques Parmentier (d 1730). His father's business failed and Wilson moved to London, w he became a clerk and began to study painting, possibly with Thomas Hudson. In 1746 and 1748-50 he was in Dublin, w he practised successfully as a portrait painter. On his return to London he settled into Godfrey Kneller's old house in Great Queen Street and built up a lucrative portrait practice, which was probably patronized chiefly by Yorkshiremen in London. One of these, Sir John Savile, later Earl of Mexborough, may have introduced him to Edward Augustus, Duke of York (1739-67), who in 1773 appointed Wilson painter to the Board of Ordnance, though he painted little after 1769.

When he became a scientist he opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Isaac Newton's gravitational-optical ether, which he supposed to differ in density around bodies in accordance with their degrees of electrification. Wilson also opposed Franklin's theory of lightning rods, holding that blunt conductors performed better than pointed ones. His best experimental work was on the electrical properties of the tourmaline. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1751 and received its gold medal in 1760 for his electrical experiments.

Status: For Sale	Reference#: 3118
Condition: Good	Year: 18th Century
Country: UK
Height: 36 in. (91.44 cm)
Width: 32 in. (81.28 cm)
Title: ander in Eurydice by Attributed to Benjamin Wilson

Dealer Policies: Artware Fineart Policy Details

Dealer Accepts: