William Powell Frith
William Powell Frith was born in Aldfield, near Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire on the 9th of January 1819. He had originally intended to be an auctioneer before his father encouraged him to take up art instead. His mother Jane Frith née Powell lived from 1779 until 1851. The family moved to London in 1835 where he began formal studies at Sass's Academy in Charlotte Street. He later attended the Royal Academy Schools and started his career as a portrait painter. In 1838 he first exhibited at the British Institution. By the 1840s he often based works on literary output from writers like Charles Dickens. He painted Dickens' portrait in 1859 and also created images inspired by Laurence Sterne.
Frith became famous for complex multi-figure compositions depicting the full range of the Victorian class system meeting in public places. His painting Ramsgate Sands known as Life at the Seaside appeared in 1854 showing visitors and entertainers at a seaside resort. He followed this with The Derby Day which depicted scenes among crowds at the race at Epsom Downs. This 1858 composition was bought by Jacob Bell for £1,500. It was so popular that it had to be protected by a specially installed rail when shown at the Royal Academy of Arts. Another well-known painting was The Railway Station showing a scene of Paddington station. His 1858 work The Crossing Sweeper broke new ground in its description of the collision of wealth and poverty on a London street. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853 presenting The Sleeping Model as his Diploma work.
He was a member of The Clique which also included Richard Dadd. The principal influence on his work was the hugely popular domestic subjects painted by Sir David Wilkie. Wilkie's famous painting The Chelsea Pensioners spurred Frith to create his own most famous compositions. Frith made known his aversion to modern-art developments through autobiographies like My Autobiography and Reminiscences published in 1887. He was an inveterate enemy of the Pre-Raphaelites and of the Aesthetic Movement. He satirised these groups in his painting A Private View at the Royal Academy from 1883. Oscar Wilde is depicted discoursing on art while Frith's friends look on disapprovingly. Fellow traditionalist Frederic Leighton appears in the painting along with painter John Everett Millais and novelist Anthony Trollope.
Later in his career he painted two series of five pictures each telling moral stories in the manner of William Hogarth. These were the Road to Ruin from 1878 about the dangers of gambling and the Race for Wealth from 1880 about reckless financial speculation. He retired from the Royal Academy in 1890 but continued to exhibit until 1902. In 1863 he was chosen to paint the marriage of the Prince of Wales later King Edward VII and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. In his later years he painted many copies of his famous paintings as well as more sexually uninhibited works such as the nude After the Bath. A well-known raconteur his writings were very popular including Further Reminiscences published in 1888.
Frith was married twice and had twelve children with his first wife Isabelle. Meanwhile a mile down the road he maintained a mistress named Mary Alford who was formerly his ward. They had seven more children together creating a marked contrast to the upright family scenes depicted in paintings like Many Happy Returns of the Day. Frith married Alford a year after the death of Isabelle in 1880. A daughter from his first family Jane Ellen Panton published Leaves of a life in 1908 describing her father and the family's set of artist and literary friendships. Walter Frith the third son from Frith's first marriage became the author of fourteen plays and three novels.
The first major retrospective in Frith's native Britain for half a century was staged at the Guildhall Art Gallery London in November 2006. It transferred to Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate North Yorkshire in March 2007. Frith's study for his last major work The Private View 1881 is in the Mercer Art Gallery. His work was also shown at the Whitechapel Gallery in London during an exhibition running from the 25th of October to the 1st of December 1951. Frith has paintings in the collection of several British institutions including Derby Art Gallery Sheffield Harrogate and the Victoria and Albert Museum. He died in 1909 aged 90 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London. In 1856 he was photographed at The Photographed Institute by Robert Howlett as part of a series of portraits of fine artists.
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Common questions
When was William Powell Frith born and where?
William Powell Frith was born on the 9th of January 1819 in Aldfield near Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
What are the most famous paintings by William Powell Frith?
William Powell Frith is best known for complex multi-figure compositions such as Ramsgate Sands from 1854, The Derby Day from 1858, and The Railway Station. He also created The Crossing Sweeper which depicted the collision of wealth and poverty on a London street.
Who were the key figures depicted in William Powell Frith's painting A Private View at the Royal Academy?
Oscar Wilde appears discoursing on art while Frederic Leighton, John Everett Millais, and Anthony Trollope look on disapprovingly in the 1883 painting A Private View at the Royal Academy by William Powell Frith.
How many children did William Powell Frith have with his first wife Isabelle?
William Powell Frith had twelve children with his first wife Isabelle before he married Mary Alford who became his mistress and bore him seven more children.
When did William Powell Frith die and where is he buried?
William Powell Frith died in 1909 aged 90 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.