"Many Photos" - A Who's Who of Victorian Britain: Astonishing painting featuring William Gladstone on sale in London

An extraordinary painting which serves as the 'who's who' of Victorian Britain has went up for sale for £10million.

The illustrious line-up in William Powell Firth's 1881 famous work includes Prime Minister William Gladstone, writers Oscar Wilde and Anthony Trollope and actors Henry Irving, Ellen Terry and Lily Langtry.

The panorama, titled 'The Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881', which also features artists Frederic Lord Leighton and John Everett Millais, attracted huge crowds when it went on display at the Royal Academy in 1883.

William Powell Firth's 1881 famous work 'The Private View at the Royal Academy' features an illustrious line-up that includes Prime Minister William Gladstone, writers Oscar Wilde and Anthony Trollope and actors Henry Irving, Ellen Terry and Lily Langtry

It was sold by the artist to Alfred Pope, founder of the Eldridge Pope Brewery in Dorset, two years later for the substantial sum of 2,500 guineas (£165,000 in today's money).

The oil on canvas 2ft by 4ft painting has remained in the Pope family for 136 years. 

They are who now selling it with the Martin Beilsy Fine Art gallery in St James's, London.

It is the last of Frith's renowned scenes of modern life to remain in private hands.

Frith himself appears in the painting in the middle of the crowd, towards the back.

Martin Beisly, director of Martin Beisly Fine Art, said: 'When exceptional Victorian pictures such as this appear on the art market, they are often discoveries, works hidden away then overlooked before being declared lost.

'In contrast, we assume all the great, well-known and well-loved pictures, the images of which are familiar to us, are safely enshrined in public collections, carefully researched and fully catalogued.

'It is remarkable that this celebrated picture is not only still in private hands but has been in the same family since it was purchased from the artist.

'The painting is in excellent condition, the canvas unlined and in its original frame with inscribed key. It was Frith's tour de force.'

He added that Pope's descendants, who will share the proceeds of the sale, are hoping to use it to fund education, housing and other purposes.

Frith, originally from Harrogate, north Yorks, made his name in the mid 19th century with his paintings Ramsgate Sands (1853), Derby Day (1858), and The Railway Station (1862).

Pope agreed to pay for the painting in three instalments over a year, during which Frith kept hold of it and displayed it in his gallery in Harrogate, charging visitors one shilling to look at it.

He died aged 90 in 1909. 

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News Photo A Who's Who of Victorian Britain: Astonishing painting featuring William Gladstone on sale in London
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