JAMES MacARDELL, Irish, 1728-1765;
after ARTHUR POND, English, 1701-1758
David Garrick Esq.
mezzotint
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.563

David Garrick was the best-known British actor of the eighteenth century because of his ability to exude grace and self-confidence on stage. Born to a respectable army officer, he received a good education and aspired to be a man of society. His desire for upward mobility perhaps explains his concern with making his visage known to audiences through the dissemination of images like this mezzotint. He was so popular after his debut in 1741 that artists portrayed him more often than King George III.  

Artists depicted Garrick in a variety of guises, but in this portrait he is shown as himself. In comparison to the French actress Lecouvreur, shown in a tragic role in the engraving by Drevet, Garrick appears staid and confident as he gazes directly at the viewer. He is dressed elegantly with a perfectly powdered wig that highlights his formal persona. The portrait resembles some included in Lavater’s Essai sur la Physiognomonie, in which the author uses a sitter’s external characteristics to intuit his interior character. In this portrait, the actor is immortalized as a gentleman. 

Cathy Dorin and Cathy Keller-Brown