Samuel Johnson’s Abiding Relevance to a Contemporary Artist

A talk as part of Fleet Street Quarter's Festival of Words

Johnson was in love with words and books. A Dictionary of the English Language, published in two large volumes, was a book of magisterial appearance as well as content.

David Breuer-Weil describes how words and books are important symbols in his art and how Johnson’s dictionary inspired a public sculpture, and other writers and journalists of the Fleet Street area prompted a series of sculptures of books and newspapers.

One of Johnson’s great characteristics is his combination of humour with moral seriousness, something that Breuer-Weil has explored in many public and private works of art over many years, for example Visitor V, currently installed in Park Lane, London and Reflection Soho, a permanent monumental bronze in Dean Street, Soho, an area associated with Johnson.

Dr Johnson's House is not an accessible venue. Please let us know if you have any accessibility or dietary requirements.

Host or Publisher Fleet Street Quarter