Getting Frithty

I had forgotten what it was like to actually do something at lunchtime, but when I took time out today to visit the William Powell Frith exhibition at the City Guildhall Art Gallery, I realised it’s quite therapeutic.
Considering that the Guildhall is supposed to be the centre of the Ciy of London, it’s such a calm place, far removed from the hustle and bustle of trading floors.
The exhibition, “Painting the Victorian Age” was mostly inhabited by elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands and strays from the financial institutions of the City.
Frith painted some wonderfully detailed pictures, not least the Railway Station, which I have always believed to be a social document more than a painting. Two ladies stood in front of the painting, arguably Frith’s most famous, and found detail and explanation far in excess of anything I could have conjured up. Two others of a similar nature- Derby Day and Ramsgate Sands – also contained enough conversation material to last a fortnight. It makes you wonder, though, just how little time we spend on looking at what’s around us. Concentrate on one painting like the Railway Station and there is so much to enjoy. But like most things, they usually pass us by as we hurtle on into the distance.