Market Analytics
Search Price Results
Wish

LOT 135

William Powell Frith RA, British 1819-1909- Olivia, c.1848; pencil and oil on canvas, oval, 35.7 x 29 cm. Provenance: Commissioned by Charles Heath for his Shakespeare’s heroines series; With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London (Sold as 'Contemplation'...

[ translate ]

William Powell Frith RA,

British 1819-1909-

Olivia, c.1848;

pencil and oil on canvas, oval, 35.7 x 29 cm.

Provenance: Commissioned by Charles Heath for his Shakespeare’s heroines series; With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London (Sold as 'Contemplation' [No.27464]) in the 1970s; With Lowell Libson, London.

Literature: Aubrey Noakes, 'William Frith Extraordinary Victorian Painter: A Biographical and Critical Essay', London, Jupiter, 1978, p.23 (illustrated).

Engraved: A version of this oil portrait was engraved by William Henry Mote (1803–1871) for 'The Heroines of Shakespeare: Comprising The Principal Female Characters in the Plays of the Great Poet Engraved under the direction of Mr. Charles Heath from drawings by eminent artists', London, David Bogue, 1848 [unnumbered].

Note: William Powell Frith, the leading painter of modern life in the Victorian age, began his career in the 1840s painting scenes of historical genre. As part of a group known as 'The Clique', which included the artists Richard Dadd, Augustus Egg, Alfred Elmore and John Phillip, Frith contributed paintings that were used as illustrations to editions of Shakespeare and poetry. 'The Clique' was a sketching society which regularly met and, as a member recalled, was ‘principally devoted to the selection of subjects for illustrations and the adjudication of honours to those whose illustration was considered best…. The subjects chosen were incidents chiefly from Byron or Shakespeare;’ [J. Imray, 'A Reminiscence of Sixty Years Ago', 'The Art Journal' vol. 60, 1898, p.202.]

This charming portrait is from this early period of Frith’s career and depicts Olivia from Shakespeare’s 'Twelfth Night', Act 1. Sc.5.

In 1848, the engraver and publisher Charles Heath published his book of Shakespeare’s heroines illustrated with ‘drawings by eminent artists’, which included works by both Frith and Augustus Egg. Frith chose Audrey and Olivia and painted these subjects for the engraver. Frith painted more than one version of 'Olivia' and was often commissioned to make copies of his paintings. William Henry Mote’s engraving shows the Shakespearean heroine in a different position to this painting, and this work is probably Frith’s first treatment of the subject.

We are grateful to Mark Bills for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

[ translate ]

View it on
Sale price
Unlock
Estimate
Unlock
Reserve
Unlock
Time, Location
20 Jul 2021
UK, London
Auction House
Unlock

[ translate ]

William Powell Frith RA,

British 1819-1909-

Olivia, c.1848;

pencil and oil on canvas, oval, 35.7 x 29 cm.

Provenance: Commissioned by Charles Heath for his Shakespeare’s heroines series; With Thomas Agnew & Sons, London (Sold as 'Contemplation' [No.27464]) in the 1970s; With Lowell Libson, London.

Literature: Aubrey Noakes, 'William Frith Extraordinary Victorian Painter: A Biographical and Critical Essay', London, Jupiter, 1978, p.23 (illustrated).

Engraved: A version of this oil portrait was engraved by William Henry Mote (1803–1871) for 'The Heroines of Shakespeare: Comprising The Principal Female Characters in the Plays of the Great Poet Engraved under the direction of Mr. Charles Heath from drawings by eminent artists', London, David Bogue, 1848 [unnumbered].

Note: William Powell Frith, the leading painter of modern life in the Victorian age, began his career in the 1840s painting scenes of historical genre. As part of a group known as 'The Clique', which included the artists Richard Dadd, Augustus Egg, Alfred Elmore and John Phillip, Frith contributed paintings that were used as illustrations to editions of Shakespeare and poetry. 'The Clique' was a sketching society which regularly met and, as a member recalled, was ‘principally devoted to the selection of subjects for illustrations and the adjudication of honours to those whose illustration was considered best…. The subjects chosen were incidents chiefly from Byron or Shakespeare;’ [J. Imray, 'A Reminiscence of Sixty Years Ago', 'The Art Journal' vol. 60, 1898, p.202.]

This charming portrait is from this early period of Frith’s career and depicts Olivia from Shakespeare’s 'Twelfth Night', Act 1. Sc.5.

In 1848, the engraver and publisher Charles Heath published his book of Shakespeare’s heroines illustrated with ‘drawings by eminent artists’, which included works by both Frith and Augustus Egg. Frith chose Audrey and Olivia and painted these subjects for the engraver. Frith painted more than one version of 'Olivia' and was often commissioned to make copies of his paintings. William Henry Mote’s engraving shows the Shakespearean heroine in a different position to this painting, and this work is probably Frith’s first treatment of the subject.

We are grateful to Mark Bills for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

[ translate ]
Sale price
Unlock
Estimate
Unlock
Reserve
Unlock
Time, Location
20 Jul 2021
UK, London
Auction House
Unlock