A Study of William Powell Frith’s Narrative Paintings from 1854 to 1880: Ramsgate Sands, Derby Day,The Railway Station,The Road to Ruin and The Race for Wealth

• Main Authors: Yin, Ying-Chiao, 尹映喬
• Other Authors: Lai, Shui-Yung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/b766sw

碩士 === 國立臺北藝術大學 === 美術學系碩(博)士班 === 105 === The British Empire in victorian era was once referred to as “the empire on which the sun never sets” when it was at the height of prosperity in all aspects. During this time, the artists and their artistic expressions were closely tied to social concern. While industrialization gave rise to the middle class, who obtained wealth and social statues via the industrial revolution and in turn became the leading sponsors of art in this period. They also brought to new heights narrative paintings that reflected moral values promoted by the middle class while maintaining their own uniqueness, hoping to find the values of self-identity. Nineteenth century English narrative painter,William Powell Frith,who lived and died around the same time as Queen Victoria, which set him apart from other painters of the same genre. Through his works, we can learn of the social landscape of that period; he left behind a wide array of artworks, among which were the panoramic, epically composed narrative paintings that were well received by people of all classes in victorian era. Why were his paintings so popular? The study discuessed William Powell Frith’s narrative paintings from 1854 to 1880: “Ramsgate Sands”,“ Derby Day”,“ The Railway Station”,“ The Road to Ruin”and“ The Race for Wealth” for example.Through the paintings from William Powell Frith ,we can see the daily life of victorian era and the morality implicit in the artworks. How do we interpret the stories behind those profuse characters in his artworks? How did he choose to express his arrangement and structure of the composition? We shall examine the social and artistic environment from the artist’s period, understand his early educational background as well as interpersonal relationships, and then focus on his artworks in order to analyze his method of expression and its uniqueness and, in turn, discuss the social values expressed in his artworks.