''A Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881'' is a painting by the English artist William Powell Frith exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

in London in 1883. It depicts a group of distinguished

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

s visiting the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1881, just after the death of the Prime Minister

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

, whose portrait (visible in the archway at the back of the room) by John Everett Millais was included on a screen at the special request of Queen Victoria. The room is Gallery III, the largest and most imposing room at

Burlington House Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in Mayfair, London. It was originally a private Neo-Palladian mansion owned by the Earls of Burlington and was expanded in the mid-19th century after being purchased by the British government. Toda ...

. Frith worked on the painting through much of 1881 and 1882. He later said in ''My Autobiography and Reminiscences'', published in 1887, that "Beyond the desire of recording for posterity the aesthetic craze as regards dress, I wished to hit the folly of listening to self-elected critics in matters of taste, whether in dress or art. I therefore planned a group, consisting of a well-known apostle of the beautiful, with a herd of eager worshippers surrounding him."

Meaning and content

The subject of the painting is the contrast between lasting historical achievements and ephemeral fads. The portrait of Disraeli represents the former, and the influence of the

Aesthetic movement Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be prod ...

in dress represents the latter. Aesthetic dress is exemplified by the principal female figures, to the left, in green, pink and orange clothing.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, one of the main proponents of Aestheticism, is depicted at the right standing in front of the boy in the green suit, with signature lily buttonhole, surrounded by female admirers. Behind Wilde, further to the right, a group of opponents glare disapprovingly at him as he speaks: painters

Philip Calderon Philip Hermogenes Calderon ( Poitiers 3 May 1833 – 30 April 1898 London) was an English painter of French birth (mother) and Spanish (father) ancestry who initially worked in the Pre-Raphaelite style before moving towards historical genr ...

and

Henry Stacy Marks Henry Stacy Marks (13 September 1829 – 9 January 1898) was a British artist who took a particular interest in Shakespearean and medieval themes in his early career and later in decorative art depicting birds and ornithologists as well as lan ...

, sculptor

Joseph Boehm Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, (6 July 1834 – 12 December 1890) was an Austrian-born British medallist and sculptor, best known for the " Jubilee head" of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Par ...

, and journalist G.A. Sala (bare-headed, in white waistcoat). To the left, behind and immediately to the right of Wilde, are the actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, with

Frederick A. Eaton Sir Frederick Alexis Eaton (20 January 1838 – 10 September 1913) was a British writer and editor. He was a chronicler and secretary of the Royal Academy, and also a medievalist. Eaton was born in Teignmouth, Devon, the seventh son of Charlotte ( ...

. To Wilde's left are Lillie Langtry, in a white dress, beside the soberly-dressed William Thomson, Archbishop of York. The man with sideburns looking over Thompson's left shoulder is William Agnew, picture dealer and recently elected Liberal MP for South East Lancashire, next to

Lord Chief Justice of England Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

Sir John Coleridge. In the centre of the composition, bearded and dressed in a brown frock coat, stands Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, talking to a seated woman, Constance, Countess of Lonsdale. The head of surgeon Sir Henry Thompson appears between Leighton and the Countess. Frith himself appears in the centre of the painting, bare-headed and whiskered, directly below the painting of Disraeli, talking to two women behind the seat. One of the two women on the other side of the seat, facing away from Leighton, is the heiress and philanthropist

Baroness Burdett-Coutts Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

. Having remained a spinster until she was sixty-six, Baroness Burdett-Coutts provoked a scandal in 1881 by marrying her much younger secretary, the American

William Ashmead-Bartlett William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts (20 January 1851 – 28 July 1921), born William Lehman Ashmead-Bartlett, was an American-born British Conservative politician and social climber who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 192 ...

, who became Mr Burdett-Coutts. Baroness Burdett-Coutts is shown in conversation with the younger Lady Diana Huddleston, daughter of William Beauclerk, 9th Duke of St Albans. Their husbands also appear among the standing figures behind the seat. Lady Diana's husband was Sir John Walter Huddleston, the last

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

and a judge of

Queen's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

. He wears a top hat, and stands just behind and to the left of poet and playwright

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, the bare-headed and white-bearded figure seen talking to an unknown woman in a green dress. To the right, listening to Browning's conversation, is naturalist Thomas Huxley (probably included due to his trenchant support for Charles Darwin, who had died in 1882). Mr Burdett-Coutts stands behind and to the right of Huxley, reading, with moustache and top hat. At the left of the painting stands the "homely figure" of

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

(who died on 6 December 1882), with full white beard and top hat, noting in a book as he gazes at an "aesthetic" family in the foreground to the right, comprising a woman in green with sunflower buttonhole gazing at the artworks (a professional model, Jenny Trip), a woman in yellow reading her catalogue, and a girl in orange looking up at her. Frith describes them as "a family of pure aesthetes absorbed in affected study of the pictures" with Trollope affording "a striking contrast to the eccentric forms near him." Cartoonist George du Maurier, with moustache and hat, stands immediately behind; to the left, behind him, hatless, is illustrator John Tenniel. Further left, between Trollope and the edge of the painting, are novelist

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed several times. ...

and musician Sir

Julius Benedict Sir Julius Benedict (27 November 1804 – 5 June 1885) was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career. Life and music Benedict was born in Stuttgart, the son of a Jewish banker, and in 1820 learnt compo ...

. To the right behind Trollope are a group of four politicians – the right-most, the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, faces a bearded Sir Henry Stafford Northcote; the tall hatless man behind Gladstone is Home Secretary

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices ...

; behind and to the left of Northcote is Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster John Bright. The paintings on the wall accurately reproduce the exhibits at the 1881 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. A second portrait of Disraeli is visible on the wall behind Langtry. On the wall at the right, above Wilde's opponents, is the similarly angry-looking central figure in

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934), ...

's ''

Last Voyage of Henry Hudson A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and ...

''. Millais at the extreme right is looking at Lawrence Alma-Tadema's painting '' Sappho and Alcaeus'', accompanied by a myopic connoisseur. On the left wall are

Heywood Hardy Heywood Hardy (25 November 1842 – 20 January 1933) was a British artist, in particular an animal painter and painter of horse riding scenes. He also painted landscapes and portraits, especially equestrian portraits. Early life Heywood Hard ...

's ''Sidi Ahmed ben Avuda and the Holy Lion'' to the left;

James Sant James Sant (1820–1916) was a British painter specialising in portraits and known particularly for images of women and children and artistic exploration of the symbolism of childhood. He was a member of the Royal Academy. George Sant and Sarah ...

's ''Daughters of Arthur Wilson, Esq.'' further right, and

John William Waterhouse John William Waterhouse (6 April 184910 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their dep ...

's ''A Summer's Day in Italy''.

Sale

The work remained in the Pope family until it was sold at Martin Beisly Fine Art in April 2019.

Exhibition history

The painting has been exhibited several times: *

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, 1883, no.163. * Harrogate, Messre A. and J. Polak's Vine Villa, presented by Dickinson's of London, September 1883. * Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1951, no. 44, lent by Major A. Rolph Pope. * Royal Academy Exhibition, Winter 1956–7, no. 447, lent by A.C.R. Pope. * Royal Academy Bicentenary 1968–9, not 449, lent by A.C.R. Pope. * London, Leighton House, on Loan 2002–2008. * Guildhall Art Gallery and Harrogate,

Mercer Art Gallery The Mercer Art Gallery, formerly the Mercer Gallery and locally known as The Mercer, is an art gallery in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It was established in Lower Harrogate's Old Town Hall building in 1991. Owned by North Yorkshire Cou ...

, William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age, 2006, unnumbered. * The

Watts Gallery Watts Gallery – Artists' Village is an art gallery in the village of Compton, near Guildford in Surrey. It is dedicated to the work of the Victorian-era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts. The gallery has been Grade II* listed on th ...

, Liberating Fashion: Aesthetic Dress in Victorian Portraits, February-June 2015 * Royal Academy, on loan 2015–2018. * Royal Academy, The Great Spectacle, 250 Years of the Summer Exhibition, June-August 2018, no. 3.

Influences

Frith was inspired by the satirical cartoons of George du Maurier (whose head is visible between the orange and green attired aesthetes at the left) and by

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

's popular operetta '' Patience'', first performed in 1881. The aesthetic costumes are characterised by features such as gigot sleeves and the " Watteau pleats" seen in the figure to the left of Wilde, wearing pink. The women in the centre along with the one to the right of Wilde with the child represent normal fashionable clothing of the day.Edwina Ehrman, Frith and Fashion, ''William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age'', 2007, pp. 111–129 These aspects of dress and pose, along with the myopic figure next to Millais, show the influence of Watteau's 1720-21 painting '' L'Enseigne de Gersaint''.

In Harrogate

''A Private View'' was exhibited on tour. At Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Frith's childhood home, it went on show at Messrs A & J Polak's, with visitors paying one shilling to see "W P Frith's Last Great Picture". Frith's study for ''A Private View, 1881'', is in th
Mercer Art Gallery
in Harrogate."Study for The Private View" in the Mercer Art Gallery Collection, Harrogate
This sketch offers a rare insight into the artist's working methods and also provides a snapshot of the buzz and excitement of the flourishing Victorian art world. The painting returned to Harrogate in 2007 for the first major exhibition of Frith's work since the artist's death.

References