Lot Essay
The son of a stained-glass artist, Frampton was educated at Brighton Grammer School, where he was an exact contemporary of Beardsley. He then attended the Westminster School of Art (again like Beardsley), and after working with his father for seven years, spent lengthy periods studying in Italy and France. His highly formalised style owes much to his involvement with stained glass (which continued at least until 1918), and he acknowledged the influence of the early Italians, Puvis de Chavannes and Burne-Jones.
With such an artistic background, it is not surprising that Frampton specialised in murals, carrying out schemes in a number of churches, often as war memorials, as well as some secular projects. Today, however, he is best known for his easel pictures, which he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy (1895-1923), the New Gallery, the R.B.A. (member 1894) and the (Royal) Institute of Oil Painters (member 1904). He also belonged to the Tempera Society (1907) and the Art Workers' Guild (1912), and had a one-man exhibition at Baillie's Gallery in 1914. For many years his paintings consisted of literary, religious and symbolist themes, but latterly he turned more to landscape, still working in a rigidly schematic style. He sought his subjects widely, finding them in Sussex, Cumberland, the Channel Islands, Brittany (which also inspired some Gauguinesque figure compositions) and the Bernese Oberland. He died suddenly in Paris in November 1923, on his way to Austria, and is buried in the cemetary of Saint-Germain. A memorial exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society the following year.
The present picture is a comparatively early work illustrating a well-known verse from Richard Lovelace's poem 'To Althea from Prison':
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.
The picture is clearly indebted to Burne-Jones, the architecture, flowers, drapery, and use of colour glazes all betraying his influence. In particular there seem to be echoes of the San Graal tapestries designed by Burne-Jones and woven under William Morris's direction during the years 1891-4. In one scene, The Achievement of the Graal by Sir Galahad, the chapel has a wooden door with elaborate wrought iron hinges; in another, The Failure of Sir Gawain, the door is pierced above by a heavily-barred window; while in all the subjects the foregrounds are covered with a luxuriant growth of flowers. These tapestries, the climax of Burne-Jones's collaboration with Morris in this field of decorative design and one of the greatest achievements of the Arts and Crafts movement, would have been well-known to Frampton since they were widely exhibited, as well as being published in The Studio in 1899. No doubt he noted them particularly at the Burne-Jones memorial exhibition held at the New Gallery following the artist's death in 1898, which is known to have impressed him deeply.
We are grateful to Mrs Rosemary Speirs for her help in preparing this entry.
With such an artistic background, it is not surprising that Frampton specialised in murals, carrying out schemes in a number of churches, often as war memorials, as well as some secular projects. Today, however, he is best known for his easel pictures, which he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy (1895-1923), the New Gallery, the R.B.A. (member 1894) and the (Royal) Institute of Oil Painters (member 1904). He also belonged to the Tempera Society (1907) and the Art Workers' Guild (1912), and had a one-man exhibition at Baillie's Gallery in 1914. For many years his paintings consisted of literary, religious and symbolist themes, but latterly he turned more to landscape, still working in a rigidly schematic style. He sought his subjects widely, finding them in Sussex, Cumberland, the Channel Islands, Brittany (which also inspired some Gauguinesque figure compositions) and the Bernese Oberland. He died suddenly in Paris in November 1923, on his way to Austria, and is buried in the cemetary of Saint-Germain. A memorial exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society the following year.
The present picture is a comparatively early work illustrating a well-known verse from Richard Lovelace's poem 'To Althea from Prison':
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above
Enjoy such liberty.
The picture is clearly indebted to Burne-Jones, the architecture, flowers, drapery, and use of colour glazes all betraying his influence. In particular there seem to be echoes of the San Graal tapestries designed by Burne-Jones and woven under William Morris's direction during the years 1891-4. In one scene, The Achievement of the Graal by Sir Galahad, the chapel has a wooden door with elaborate wrought iron hinges; in another, The Failure of Sir Gawain, the door is pierced above by a heavily-barred window; while in all the subjects the foregrounds are covered with a luxuriant growth of flowers. These tapestries, the climax of Burne-Jones's collaboration with Morris in this field of decorative design and one of the greatest achievements of the Arts and Crafts movement, would have been well-known to Frampton since they were widely exhibited, as well as being published in The Studio in 1899. No doubt he noted them particularly at the Burne-Jones memorial exhibition held at the New Gallery following the artist's death in 1898, which is known to have impressed him deeply.
We are grateful to Mrs Rosemary Speirs for her help in preparing this entry.