Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library (1899)

'Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

‘Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

Engraving of ‘Boswell’s Introduction to the Literary Club’ by Eyre Crowe (1856)

Medium: oil on canvas

Size: 34 x 44 inches (86 x 112 cm)

Owner: Private collector, Vancouver, Canada

This picture was put up for auction by Woolley and Wallis of Salisbury on 9 Dec 2015 (Lot 398), and again by the same dealer on 16 March 2016 (Lot 327). It does not appear to have been exhibited, but is signed and allegedly dated 1899. Eyre Crowe’s diary entries for that year do not mention it specifically by subject or title. It might possibly the picture referred to on 3 April 1899: Crowe records that he worked all day at his ‘large picture’, but finally gave it up as too unfinished to send to the Royal Academy. It is more likely to be an incorrectly identified and dated ‘Boswell’s Introduction to the Literary Club‘ (1856).

A picture of exactly the same size (34 x 44 inches) was auctioned by Christie’s in Paris on 25 April 1899: Lot 77, BOSWELL’S INTRODUCTION TO JOHNSON 34 in. by 44 in. Engraved From the Collection of J Knowles, Esq., 1865

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