Letter from William Powell Frith to Henry Keyworth Raine, July 6, 1893

Public

Part of a collection of 21 letters sent by William Powell Frith to his great nephew Henry Keyworth Raine, dating from March 16, 1890 to March 29, 1908. William Powell Frith (1819-1909), painter of historical and genre works, including large canvases such as Derby Day (1858). “The Race for Wealth” comprises five paintings, all based around a fictional central character, a corrupt financier called The Spider, and all dealing with the theme of reckless financial speculation. Inspired by characters found in the novels of Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope, The Spider persuades his victims to invest in dubious schemes. Often compared with Hogarth’s “The Rake’s Progress,” “The Race for Wealth” portrays The Spider’s initial success, his unmasking, his trial, and ends with his imprisonment. This letter discusses Reynolds and Titian more, and also talks about Ruebens technique. Frith also talks about colour mixing and colour combinations he has used.

In Collection:
Creator Contributor Subject Language Identifier
  • Number on first page of letter: 3
Date created Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 2 pages ; 15 x 20 cm, folded to 15 x 10 cm
Geographic coverage Coordinates
  • 51.50853, -0.12574
Additional physical characteristics
  • Handwritten in black ink. Address letterhead on right hand side: "Ashenhurst, Syndenham Rise, S.E.".
Physical repository Collection
  • 19th Century Manuscripts
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • Accession Number: 2022-007
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • February 10, 2022
Technical note
  • Scanned on Plustek OpticBook A300 at 600 DPI Tiff. Items cropped and resized for Vault. Metadata by MT.
Rights
  • Contact Special Collections and University Archives for access to the original. This material is made available on this site for research and private study only.
DOI

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