William Powell Frith: Painting in the Victorian Age

by Mark Bills (Editor)

William Powell Frith (1819-1909) was the greatest British painter of the social scene since Hogarth. His panoramas of nineteenth-century life broke new ground in their depiction of the diverse London crowd, and they are now icons of their age. Frith’s popularity in his lifetime was unprecedented; on six separate occasions special railings had to be built at the Royal Academy to protect his paintings from an admiring public.
Derby Day and The Railway Station are nearly as well known today as a century ago, yet the artist who painted them is now neglected. This book explores Frith's place in the development of Victorian the impact of his unconventional private life on his work, his relationships with Hogarth and Dickens, his influence on popular illustration, the place of costume in his paintings, his female models, his painting materials and practice, and much more. The book makes an important contribution to the literature on art in the Victorian era and to our understanding of the nineteenth century.

Exhibition Guildhall, London (November 2006 – March 2007) Harrogate (opens April 2007)

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure. I am a huge fan of the work of Frith. This book, edited by Mark Bills and Vivian Knight, is a lavishly illustrated biography of Frith’s life and work. The book covers all of Frith’s major work and offers much illumination into his lesser know art as well. Naturally there is a major focus on “Life at the Seaside,” “Derby Day,” and “The Railway Station,” and “Private View at the Royal Academy.” For each of these major works of art the editors offer an in-depth analysis. This book is a coffee table book and so with its oversized pages one can enjoy these paintings without too much squinting at the panorama of people who populate the paintings.

There is so much to learn about the Victorian world in these paintings. Frith both paints a picture and creates a narrative of imagined possibilities for the people who appear in the paintings. Dickens, a good friend of Frith, presented his readers with a vast parade of characters in print; Frith, for his part presents on canvas what Dickens offers on the page.

Many compare Hogarth and his earlier illustrations to what Frith composed in the 19C. I agree.

A stunning book and well worth your time. This book is a treat. In reading it you will enter into the mind of one of the most fascinating artists of the Victorian Era.