William Powell Frith "The Railway Station" Print

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William Powell Frith "The Railway Station" Print

About the Item

The Railway Station, by William Powell Frith, RA, original etching in later gilt frame. Available to view at Brunswick House, London. Dimensions: 52 cm (20½") High, 101 cm (39¾") wide. When Frith’s painting of The Railway Station went on show at a London gallery in April 1862, The Times newspaper declared, “as a rule, it is only dead men whose works have risen to such figures” Astonishingly for this time, Frith had been paid £8,750 though only £4,500 of this was paid for the painting itself; the rest secured the far more lucrative copyright and sole exhibition rights. Frith’s earlier work, Derby Day had proved so popular that picture dealer, Louis Victor Flatow, recognised the investment possibilities in the painter’s next picture and went into partnership with him. He did well out of his investment, 21,150 people paid a shilling to see the picture and a year later he was able to sell both painting and copyright to a print dealer for more than £16,300. The picture was in many ways a collaboration, Frith employed the services of a photographer, Samuel Fry to photograph Paddington Station, engines, carriages, etc. Architectural draughtsman, William Scott Morton was employed to paint the structural details - pillars, arches, girders of Paddington Station itself. This out sourcing allowed Frith to concentrate on what his audience wanted; the human spectacle of sentiment, comedy and tragedy. Nearly a hundred separate figures can be counted, including business partner and art dealer, Flatow appearing as a train enthusiast chatting to the engine driver. On the far left a woman trying to smuggle her lapdog into her carriage pleads with a railway official; a gamekeeper prepares a brace of setters for the baggage coach; a family hurries to the train behind a porter forcing a way through the crowd with their luggage; in the centre a family is packing two boys off to boarding school; next, a wealthy foreigner is being harangued by a cabman over the tip; army recruits embrace loved ones; a wedding party flutters and weeps and say goodbye; finally at the extreme right of the picture, Haydon and Brett, two famous and recognizable Scotland Yard detectives, arrest a fugitive from justice, his foot on the step of the carriage that would take him to freedom, while ‘his wife, haggard with long suffering, looks on in agony.

Creator:
William Powell Frith (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 33.86 in (86 cm)Width: 61.03 in (155 cm)Depth: 2.37 in (6 cm)
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
Unknown
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Old water stain to bottom of print (not on the print but on the border). Further images available on request.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: p003461stDibs: LU98431305064