John Opie RA
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84), c. 1783
Oil on canvas
30 x 25 in (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com Opie's portrait of Dr Johnson shows the brooding intensity and uncompromising directness of the celebrated lexicographer. His original compositions are seldom...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
Opie's portrait of Dr Johnson shows the brooding intensity and uncompromising directness of the celebrated lexicographer. His original compositions are seldom read these days, but his observations on life, his contemporaries and English literary have become gnomic and he occupies a central a position in the development of English literary criticism. He was also, of course, a superb conversationalist, and the members of his Club included some of the foremost figures of the mid-georgian intelligentsia, men such a Sir Joshua Reynolds and David Garrick.
Opie's portrait of Dr Johnson shows the brooding intensity and uncompromising directness of the celebrated lexicographer. His original compositions are seldom read these days, but his observations on life, his contemporaries and English literary have become gnomic and he occupies a central a position in the development of English literary criticism. He was also, of course, a superb conversationalist, and the members of his Club included some of the foremost figures of the mid-georgian intelligentsia, men such a Sir Joshua Reynolds and David Garrick.