18th Century Oil Portrait of David Garrick & Wife Eva Circle of Sir Joshua Reynolds

David Garrick and Eva Maria Garrick (née Veigel), richly dressed, and conversing in wooded landscape. The painting follows the fashionable convention of the conversation piece, a (usually) small-scale portrait showing two or more people, often out of doors. Having had their origins in the 17th century Netherlands, they were also very fashionable in Britain in the 18th century. They are distinguished by their portrayal of the group apparently engaged in genteel conversation or some activity, very often outdoors. Typically the group will be members of a family, but friends may be included, and some groups are of friends, members of a society or hunt, or some other grouping. Often the paintings are relatively small, about the same size as a half-length portrait but in horizontal or 'landscape' format; others are much larger. Other notable artist working in this genre were Arthur Devis, William Hogarth, Johann Zoffany, and George Stubbs. The original is in the National Gallery London. Garrick made his first appearance on the London stage in 1741. His distinguishing characteristic was what Samuel Johnson called his 'universality'. A close friend of Reynolds, he was painted by the artist on several occasions, notably as The Actor torn between Tragedy and Comedy, in 1762. In this portrait by the artist, David and Eva Garrick, the Viennese dancer whom he married in 1749, are depicted in the garden of their country house at Hampton in Middlesex. Very finely depicted figures and attire. The facial features of the lady (lips, cheeks, nose) are remarkable. The impasto technique with the thickly applied paint is very effective and very beautiful. Held in an excellent condition swept frame. This exceptionally rare and fine example of one of Reynolds well known works is probably the only other in existence after the original in the National Gallery. We must say that in our opinion our recently acquired version could possibly be another work from Reynolds studio and possibly an earlier forerunner to his larger painting of Garrick. The portrait we offer is technically not strictly a copy as the artist has painted Garricks Coat with just four upholstered large buttons,whereas the larger version in the National Gallery depicts Garrick with five buttons. Surely the best copyists would not make such a basic mistake had they been carefully producing an accurate copy.This fact suggests that two versions were produced around the same time 1772 and that the smaller example we offer for sale may have in fact been an earlier practice sample work. We only suggest this as a sensible analysis but do say our painting is definitely of the correct period around 1772 (late18thc) and that it has been produced by either Reynolds studio under his influence within his Circle or possibly by his studio assistant of many years Giuseppe Marchi. The smaller version once scaled up would in fact look visually incorrect to only have four buttons as the spacing of each button would have increased substantially and would continue to do so if enlarged even further.There are unlikely to be any other quality copies available to purchase,making our fine example a unique opportunity to buy a one off reduced version of one of Reynolds best known works.