Frith, William Powell RA

1819

1909

The artist William Powell Frith was born in Aldfield, Yorkshire, on 9 January 1819. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1837, and in 1840 he exhibited his first picture, ‘Malvolio Before the Countess Olivia.’ He was a member of the academies at Antwerp, Brussels and Stockholm, and he was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1852. His numerous works included ‘Othello and Desdemona,’ ‘Scene from the Vicar of Wakefield,’ ‘Coming of Age’ (1849), ‘Life at the Sea-side’ (1854), ‘The Railway Station’ (1862), ‘Marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales’(1865) and ‘The Road to Ruin’ (1878). He was elected to the Garrick Club in May 1864 and resigned in January 1883. Frith died in London on 2 November 1909. See his “My Autobiography and Reminiscences” (1887).