The Road To Ruin: College; Ascot; The Arrest; Struggles; and The End, by L. Flameng

Details

After William Powell Frith, R.A.
The Road To Ruin: College; Ascot; The Arrest; Struggles; and The End, by L. Flameng
etching, published by the Art Union of London, London, 1882
S. 21 x 25in. (53.3 x 63.5cm.) (5)

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Lot Essay

Iron railings and policemen guarded Frith's popular narrative series when it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. The paintings, which told of a young student whose life descends into ruin when he begins gambling, were engraved and published in 1882.

The Road to Ruin series is illustrated in C. Wood, William Powell Frith - A Painter and his World, London, 2006, chapter 15, pp. 167-178. A set of sketches is currently in the Frith Exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery. The originals are in a private collection.

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