Prints of Me: portraits of Garrick

David Garrick was not only a great actor-manager, scholar and collector, he was also a great self-publicist. He was the first actor to realise that the best way to become famous was for people to recognise him, and the best way to do that was to make sure that prints of his portrait were to be seen everywhere. This talk by Sheila O'Connell, curatorial advisor to Dr Johnson's House and former curator of prints at the British Museum, will discuss Garrick's friendships with artists that helped him to become the best known face outside the royal family in 18th-century Britain.