Art Institute of Chicago

Mr. Quick as Vellum in Addison's Drummer

Samuel De Wilde (English, 1748–1832)

Date

1792

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

England

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This painting belongs to a sequence of portraits by Samuel De Wilde depicting famous British actors performing their best-known roles. Designed to serve as the model for a print marketed to the general public, the painting is a significant artifact in the historical development of celebrity culture. The subject of the portrait, John Quick, was among the most acclaimed comic actors of his generation and is shown here in the role of Vellum from Joseph Addison’s 1716 play, The Drummer . With a ruddy complexion and wig humorously askew, Quick is shown in the act of performing, seated in a spare interior and glancing stage left, perhaps at another character about to enter.

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