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ANTIQUE #SA60121
portrait of dr samuel johnson 1709 1784 english poet essayist critic journalist lexicographer conversationalist after sir joshua raynolds - CATEGORY: ANTIQUE ART - DATED 19TH CENTURY
 

Portrait Of Dr Samuel Johnson 1709 -1784, English Poet, Essayist, Critic, Journalist, Lexicographer, Conversationalist, After Sir Joshua Raynolds

Status: This item has been sold
Sold by: Artware Fineart

Size: 30.00 x 25.00 ins, oil on canvas
 
The original portrait was painted between 1772 and 1778, the Portrait was sold by Hester on 10 May 1816 (68) to G. Watson Taylor for £378; Taylor sale by Robins at Eristoke, 25 July 1832 (150), bought by Sir Robert Peel; bought by the National Gallery in 1871; transferred to the Tate Gallery where it now hangs.
 
English poet, essayist, critic, journalist, lexicographer, conversationalist, regarded as one of the outstanding figures of 18th-century life and letters. Johnson''s literary reputation is part dependent on James Boswell''s (1740-1795) biography The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. (1791), with whom he formed one of the most famous friendships in literary history. The writer Ford Madox Ford has considered Johnson the most tragic figures of English literature, ''whose still living writings are always ignored, a great honest man who will remain forever a figure of half fun because of the leechlike adoration of the greatest and most ridiculous of all biographers. For it is impossible not to believe that, without Boswell, Johnson for us today would shine like a sun in the heavens whilst Addison sat forgotten in coffee houses.'' (from The March of Literature, 1938) – Johnson became Doctor Johnson when Dublin University gave him the honorary degree in 1765. He had a huge, strong athletic build, his appetite was legendary and it is said that he often drank over 25 cups of tea at one sitting.
 
''One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts.''
 
Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfeld, the son of a bookseller. His childhood was marred by ill health: a tubercular infection affected both his sight and hearing and his face was scarred by scrofula. Johnson was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. His father died in 1731 and left the family in poverty. Johnson''s studies were cut short and he returned to Lichfield, affected by depression which haunted him for his life. He worked as a teacher a...
Antique #SA60121, shown on this page, originates from the 19th century. For historical context, the timeline below highlights the period when it was made:
19th Century
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CONTACT DETAILS OF SELLER:
Artware Fineart
London
United Kingdom
STATUS
THIS ITEM HAS BEEN SOLD
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