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Lot Essay
This striking portrait of the artist William Powell Frith (1816-1863) was painted by his friend and student Augustus Leopold Egg in c. 1849. The exact dating of the work is unclear due to two conflicting engravings that were published. The Strand Magazine published an engraving in 1888, as Frith aged 30, which accompanied an article written by Frith. It was then subsequently published as an engraving in 1892, as Frith aged 36. This dates the work between 1846-1852.
Augustus Egg was a close friend of William Powell Frith and features extensively in Frith’s memoirs, A Victorian Canvas. Frith also painted a portrait of Augustus Egg (Private Collection, on loan to Charles Dickens Museum, London), this reciprocated sitting perhaps demonstrates the closeness in their relationship. By 1888, the portrait by Egg was in the possession of Frith, presumably a gift from an earlier date. The work was then gifted to Frith’s daughter Isabella Oppenheim on 9th June 1901, as per the inscription in Frith’s hand on the reverse of the panel.
On occasion the work has been incorrectly attributed as a self-portrait by William Powell Frith, perhaps due to the dedication on the reverse in his hand. Indeed, it was fairly common place for Frith to produce multiple versions of works for his children. Therefore, it was mistakenly thought that this work may have been a replica of the original by Augustus Egg.
We are grateful to Mark Bills for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry. Please note that this work will appear in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné and monograph of William Powell Frith.
Augustus Egg was a close friend of William Powell Frith and features extensively in Frith’s memoirs, A Victorian Canvas. Frith also painted a portrait of Augustus Egg (Private Collection, on loan to Charles Dickens Museum, London), this reciprocated sitting perhaps demonstrates the closeness in their relationship. By 1888, the portrait by Egg was in the possession of Frith, presumably a gift from an earlier date. The work was then gifted to Frith’s daughter Isabella Oppenheim on 9th June 1901, as per the inscription in Frith’s hand on the reverse of the panel.
On occasion the work has been incorrectly attributed as a self-portrait by William Powell Frith, perhaps due to the dedication on the reverse in his hand. Indeed, it was fairly common place for Frith to produce multiple versions of works for his children. Therefore, it was mistakenly thought that this work may have been a replica of the original by Augustus Egg.
We are grateful to Mark Bills for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry. Please note that this work will appear in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné and monograph of William Powell Frith.