David Garrick; Eva Maria Garrick (née Veigel)

Reynolds painted David Garrick and his wife Eva Maria around 1772, creating one of his finest double portraits and a record of the most famous theatrical couple of the Georgian era. Garrick had retired from acting in 1776 — this portrait was painted in the years immediately before his retirement — and his marriage to the Viennese dancer Eva Maria Veigel, known as Violette, had been one of the most celebrated unions in Georgian society for over two decades. Reynolds and Garrick were among each other's closest friends: both central figures in The Club, both at the height of their respective powers, both committed to raising the status of their arts through intellectual argument and institutional initiative. Reynolds had already painted Garrick's celebrated portrait Between Tragedy and Comedy (1761), one of the most famous images in British art, and this later double portrait captures the couple in their settled domestic happiness with more personal warmth than the earlier allegorical treatment. The National Portrait Gallery's holding connects the canvas to the comprehensive record of British cultural achievement that Reynolds contributed to throughout his career.

The double portrait presents the couple with theatrical presence. Reynolds's handling captures the famous actor's charisma.