“Painter of historical genre and scenes of Victorian life. Born near Ripon, Yorkshire, Frith was forced by ambitious parents to take up painting against his will. He studied at Sass’s Academy and Royal Academy Schools. He was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1845 and became a full member in 1852. During the 1840s a member of the Clique, with Richard Dadd, A.L. Egg, H.N. O’Neil and John Phillip (all q.v.). Early subjects all historical and literary scenes, the subjects being taken from such sources as Shakespeare, Molière, Scott, Goldsmith, Dickens and Sterne. In his autobiography Frith claims that he was always “strongly drawn towards illustration of modern life”. It was not, however, until the Pre-Raphaelites had made modern genre acceptable that Frith tried his hand at this type of subject. A visit to Ramsgate in 1851 gave him the idea for his first panorama of Victorian life ‘Ramsgate Sands’, exhibited at RA in 1854. The picture was an enormous success, and was bought by Queen Victoria. Encouraged by this, Frith went on to paint a succession of similar panoramas, for which he is now best known. He also painted several moralistic series. In addition to these, he continued to paint historical and sentimental subjects, becoming steadily more repetitive, his colours growing thinner and dryer. Frith exhibited at the Royal Academy for sixty years, from 1840-1902, and also at the British Institution and Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street. A self-portrait is in the MacDonald Collection at the Aberdeen Art Gallery. A sale of works from his own collection was held at Christie’s on June 14, 1884.”

(Wood, Christopher. The Dictionary of Victorian Painters.)