William Powell Frith RA

1819 - 1909

William Powell Frith was born near Ripon and was encouraged to take up art, rather than auctioneering, by his father, a hotelier in Harrogate. He moved to London in 1835, studying at Sass's Academy and the Royal Academy Schools. At first he was a portrait painter, but in the 1840s-50s much of his work was based on literary works and writers. Frith was a member of The Clique, which also included Richard Dadd, and the principal influence on his work was Sir David Wilkie, who inspired his complex multi-figure compositions depicting the full range of the Victorian class system interacting in public spaces, notably 'Ramsgate Sands’, ‘The Derby Day’ and ‘The Railway Station’. Frith did not approve of Pre-Raphaelitism or the Aesthetic Movement, although at his best he is the quintessential mid 19th century artist. His writings, including an autobiography, were extremely popular.