Derby Day

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
  • About the artist
    William Powell Frith was born near Ripon in Yorkshire. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools and was elected an Academician in 1852. During the 1840s he was a member of the artists' group 'The Clique'. Although his early subjects were historical or literary, Frith claimed to have been ‘strongly drawn’ to contemporary genre. He first painted the subject following a visit to Ramsgate of 1851, which resulted in ‘Ramsgate Sands’ (exhibited 1854). He went on to paint ‘Derby Day’ (1858), ‘The Railway Station’ (1862) and ‘Private View Day at the Royal Academy’ (1883). His 19 children - twelve with his wife and seven with his mistress - caused considerable financial difficulties. Frith died of pneumonia aged 90, at his home in St John's Wood.
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  • Details
    Title
    Derby Day
    Date
    Medium
    Coloured engraving
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Parker Gallery, March 1971
    Inscription
    below image: [left] incised PRINTSELLERS ASSOCIATION/HWN stamp / [in pencil] W.P Frith [right] Guy Blanchard
    GAC number
    9155