Portrait of David Garrick (1717-1779), half-length, in a brown coat, at his desk

Details

Studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. (Devon 1723-1792 London)
Portrait of David Garrick (1717-1779), half-length, in a brown coat, at his desk
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm.)
in a late 18th Century carved and gilded frame

Provenance

[Possibly] commissioned by the Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Butler's Court, near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, (+); Christie's, London, 5 June 1812, lot 93 (82 gns. to Col. Megueler[?]).
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (1766-1839), Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, by 1834; Bedford sale, Christie's, London, 19 January 1951, lot 132 (190 gns. to Hiley[?] on behalf of Sir Laurence Olivier).
Sir Laurence Olivier (1907-1989), and by inheritance.

Literature

Catalogue of the Duke of Bedford collection at Woburn Abbey, 1834 (listed in the Holland Library).
G. Scharf, A Descriptive and Historical catalogue of the Collection of Pictures at Woburn Abbey, I, London, 1877, pp. 152-3 and 323, no. 256.
A. Graves and W.V. Cronin, A History of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A., London, 1899, I, p. 349.
Sir W. Armstrong, Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A., London, 1900, p. 207. D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A complete catalogue of his paintings, London, 2000, p. 211, under no. 705.
J. Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Mid-Georgian Portraits 1760-1790, London, 2004, p. 188.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The prime version of Reynolds' The Prologue Portrait of Garrick, actor, playwright and producer, was executed in circa 1775 and exhibited at the Royal Academy the following year (private collection; D. Mannings, op. cit., p. 211, no. 705).

The present studio version may have been commissioned by the Anglo-Irish statesman Edmund Burke. An author, orator, political theorist and philosopher, Burke served as a Whig politician in the House of Commons. He is remembered for his support of the American colonies and his strong opposition to the French Revolution. The portrait is recorded in the Library at Woburn Abbey by 1834, then seat of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, K.G., P.C., L.L.D., F.S.A. (1766-1839).

Elements of the frame are similar to some of Henry Holland's mouldings around the door panels in the south wing rooms; the Library, Ante-Library and Dining Room (Holland carried out work in the house for John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, between 1787 and 1788). The decoration of the frame is also similar to a number of other portraits still hanging in the Holland Library.

The portrait was acquired at the Woburn Abbey sale in 1951 by the pre-eminent actor, director and producer Sir Laurence Olivier, Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and four-time Emmy winner.

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