Joshua Reynolds Oliver Goldsmith, 1772
© National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
(1728-1774)
'Goldsmith had no settled notions upon any subject so he talked always at random. It seemed to be his intention to blurt out whatever was in his mind and see what would become of it.'
Samuel Johnson
Reynolds got to know Goldsmith in the early 1760s. A prolific writer of poetry, plays and essays, Goldsmith's recklessness and generosity left him continually in debt. He achieved considerable success with his novel, The Vicar of Wakefield 1766, his poem The Deserted Village 1770, and his comic play She Stoops to Conquer 1773. His conversation did not match his literary abilities: as Reynolds observed, 'many suspected that he was not the author of his own works'.