Frith, WILLIAM POWELL, R.A.

Frith, WILLIAM POWELL, R.A., was born at Aldfield, Yorkshire, on the 9th January 1819. He studied art at Sass's Academy, London, and in the schools of the Royal Academy; and in 1840 exhibited his 'Othello and Desdemona' in the British Institution. He painted portraits, and his early subject-pictures were scenes from the English and French classics. His 'Coming of Age in the Olden Time' first brought its painter into notice, and his celebrity was increased by 'Ramsgate Sands' (1854); 'The Derby Day' (1858); and 'The Railway Station' (1862). His later works include 'Charles II.'s Last Sunday' (1867); 'Before Dinner at Boswell's Lodgings' (1868), which in 1875 sold for £4567; the gambling subjects entitled 'The Road to Ruin' (1878); and 'A Private View, a Scene at the Royal Academy' (1883). His productions, while destitute of the finer artistic qualities, have been extremely popular on account of the interest of their subjects and their obvious dramatic point, and have become widely known by means of engravings. He was elected A.R.A. in 1846, R.A. in 1852, and put on the retired list in 1890. His popular picture, The Railway Station, sold for £5250, was resold in 1890 for £315. His Autobiography (3 vols.) was published in 1887-88.