Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Reynolds painted Samuel Johnson around 1758, the earliest of the several portraits he made of the greatest literary figure in his life and one of the most intimate friendships in the history of British culture. Reynolds and Johnson met around 1756 through their shared social circles, and the friendship that developed was among the most consequential in both men's lives: Johnson called Reynolds 'the most invulnerable man I know,' while Reynolds called Johnson 'the greatest man I know.' The 1758 portrait, now at Harvard, captures Johnson a few years after the completion of the Dictionary (1755) that had established him as the dominant figure in English letters, but before the Boswell relationship that would generate the most famous biography in the language. Reynolds painted Johnson multiple times across their thirty-year friendship, each portrait revealing a different aspect of the complex man — the intellectual power, the physical awkwardness, the depression, and the extraordinary social vitality that his friends treasured. The Harvard Art Museums' holding of this early canvas documents the beginning of a friendship that shaped both men's understanding of themselves and each other.

The portrait captures Johnson with characteristic force and intelligence. Reynolds's handling creates one of the most recognized literary portraits.