Frederick George Goodall RA

1822 - 1904

Born in London, the son of the engraver Edward Goodall, Frederick studied at the Wellington Road Academy. Aged 16, he received a commission from Isambard Kingdom Brunel for six watercolours of his Thames Tunnel, four of which were shown at the Royal Academy. Agred 23, his first major oil painting of "The Brittany Conscript Leaving Home", received great acclaim when it was shown at the British Institution. Goodall visited Egypt twice, in 1858 and 1870, and became known for the many Egyptian subjects he exhibited at the Royal Academy, where he was elected an Associate in 1852 and an Academician in 1863. At his Richard Norman Shaw-designed house, Goodall entertained important patrons, such as the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), but his great popularity declined, and he was made bankrupt in 1902. His brother, the watercolourist Edward Angelo Goodall, had the unhappy task of arranging the bankruptcy sale of Frederick's work.