3-057-068 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

William Powell Frith, Royal Academician, 1880. Powell Frith first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840, and became a member in 1852. In the early years his subjects derived from authors such as Scott, Sterne, Goldsmith, Molière, Cervantes, and Shakespeare. A visit to Ramsgate in 1851 led him to change his subject matter and to focus on more everyday Victorian scenes, hence the works "The Derby Day" of 1858, and "The Railway Station" of 1862, which proved immensely popular.