Object Image

Life at the Seaside

Also known as Ramsgate Sands, Life at the Seaside was Frith’s first major scene of the modern Victorian world. A ground breaking painting, it was voted picture of the year at the Royal Academy in 1854. Frith’s panorama is of a cross-section of people of mixed social groups and ages in a random crowd. The 1840s saw a rise of the seaside as a place of leisure. The development of the railways transformed quiet seaside towns such as Ramsgate into crowded resorts as Londoners enjoyed day trips to the sea. In 1851 Frith was on holiday in Ramsgate. Whilst there, instead of painting his usual historical costume paintings, he decided to paint modern life. The great mix of humanity, about 70 characters w...
1905 (after his 1854 painting in the Royal Collection)
Oil on Canvas
BORGM 00850
Image and text © Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, 2021

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