William Powell Frith

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William Powell Frith

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

William Powell Frith 1819-1909, English anecdotal and genre painter. His early paintings were illustrations, such as his Scene from a Sentimental Journey (Victoria and Albert Mus.). Later he painted many enormously popular pictures of everyday English life, among them Derby Day (National Gall., London) and The Railway Station (Leicester Mus.).

Bibliography: See his memoirs, A Victorian Canvas (1957).

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Frith, William Powell

The Oxford Dictionary of Art | 2004 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Art 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Frith, William Powell (b Aldfield, nr. Ripon, Yorkshire, 9 Jan. 1819; d London, 2 Nov. 1909). English painter. He began his career as a portraitist and painter of literary subjects (from Shakespeare, Scott, and other authors), but in the 1850s he turned to contemporary scenes, with which he had enormous commercial success. Three of his pictures are particularly renowned—crowded, anecdote-packed scenes that rank among the most familiar images of Victorian life: Life at the Seaside (or Ramsgate Sands) (1854, Royal Coll.), Derby Day (1858, Tate, London), and The Railway Station (1862, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham). Derby Day was so popular when shown at the Royal Academy that it had to be railed off from the throng of admirers—a distinction previously accorded only to Wilkie's Chelsea Pensioners in 1822. Frith's My Autobiography and Reminiscences (1887) and Further Reminiscences (1888) give lively accounts of the art world of his time. He continued exhibiting until 1902 and by the end of his long life he was regarded as a ‘specimen of Victorian philistinism’ (Jeremy Maas, Victorian Painters, 1969). His reputation greatly revived as part of the general re-evaluation of Victorian art after the Second World War.

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Frith, William Powell

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists | 2003 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Frith, William Powell (1819–1909). English painter. He began his career with literary subjects (from Shakespeare, Scott, and other authors), but in the 1850s he turned to contemporary scenes, with which he had great commercial success. His crowded, anecdote-packed pictures of Victorian life, among them Derby Day (1858, Tate, London) and The Railway Station (1862, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham), are among the most familiar images of their age. Frith's My Autobiography and Reminiscences (1887) and Further Reminiscences (1888) give lively accounts of the art world of his time.

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IAN CHILVERS. "Frith, William Powell." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved November 29, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-FrithWilliamPowell.html

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THINKING OF THE BIGGER PICTURE William Powell Frith
Newspaper article from: The Sunday Telegraph London; 11/12/2006; ; 700+ words ; William Powell Frith (1819-1909) is principally remembered...Gallery seeks to rekindle interest in Frith and all his works. Curated by Vivien...suggest. At the peak of his fortunes, Frith was arguably the most successful British...
A Dickens of a painter ; Just as the British public was enthralled by the great Victorian novelist and his storytelling genius, his friend William Powell Frith did much the same on canvas for the Royal Academy
Newspaper article from: Evening Standard - London; 12/15/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...pictures that bore these titles, William Powell Frith, had been swiftly swept away by...have only a perceptive essay on Frith as an anthropologist, written...assembled to accompany the current Frith exhibition at the Guildhall Art...
WILLIAM POWELL FRITH: PAINTING THE VICTORIAN AGE ; You write the reviews ++ Guildhall Art Gallery LONDON
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 2/14/2007; ; 616 words ; ...original Leightons with his pocket money. Frith's work can be divided into three parts...contemporary life, such as Derby Day. Frith painted faces in a solid, traditional...under-painting. The only problem is that Frith's top coat is sometimes too thin, and...
OBIT - POWELL, WILLIAM C. SR.
Newspaper article from: Roanoke Times & World News; 6/28/2005; 343 words ; ...the late Henry Lewis and Mary Frith Powell. He was also preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn L. Powell; and his sister, Hazel Powell Ogle. Surviving are his daughter...son and daughter-in-law, William C., Jr. and Robin Powell...
Standing out in the crowd.
Newspaper article from: The Mail on Sunday (London, England); 11/19/2006; 700+ words ; ...Byline: PHILIP HENSHER William Powell Frith: Painting The...To look at a great William Frith is to enter the Victorian...with one of the great Friths in the form of a jigsaw...railway station. I adore Frith, and when I heard that...
Heritage plaque unveiled to honour Victorian artist
Newspaper article from: Yorkshire Post; 3/13/2007; 582 words ; ...plaque marking the former home of Victorian painter William Powell Frith was unveiled in Harrogate yesterday two weeks before a new exhibition of his work opens in the town. William Powell Frith (1819-1909): Painting the Victorian Age...
Heritage plaques honour Victorian artist
Newspaper article from: Yorkshire Post; 1/4/2007; 515 words ; ...two locations associated with the Victorian artist William Powell Frith in advance of a major exhibition of his work. The...hold back admiring crowds." Ms Sellars describes William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age, which can be...
'Hogarth of the 19th century' restored to his rightful place ; HOME
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 11/3/2006; ; 660 words ; ...They are important because Frith mentions them in his autobiography...that he did," Ms Knight said. Frith lost his popularity to modern...which included the sale of several Friths. William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age is...
Exhibition reveals the secret life of a Victorian artist
Newspaper article from: Yorkshire Post; 5/25/2007; 511 words ; WILLIAM Powell Frith is known as a pillar of the Victorian artistic establishment, but...has been loaned by Wolverhampton Art Gallery for the exhibition - William Powell Frith: The Victorian Age - which continues at the Mercer until July...
[Pounds]65,000 deal brings painting 'home'
Newspaper article from: Yorkshire Post; 2/22/2006; 588 words ; Brian Dooks A PORTRAIT of a child bride by William Powell Frith, one of the greatest British painters of the Victorian...portrait until he died in 1902. Harrogate claims William Powell Frith (1819-1909) as its most famous artist son...

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