Frye Thomas 1710 1762 (6 results)

In the last two years of his life, the Dublin-born artist Thomas Frye (1710-1762) published two remarkable series of mezzotints, entitled 'Fancy Heads'. Although thought to have been drawn from life, Frye did not intend these to be viewed as portraits and, with the exception of the image of himself, did not provide us with names or titles for any of the sitters. These four mezzotints are from Frye's second series, published in 1761-1762, and were titled 'Ladies, very elegantly attired in the fashion, and in the most agreeable attitudes'. Frye was a keen self-promoter and publicised his scheme widely in the London press and advertised the prints as limited editions for 'Room Decoration', aiming them at the top end of the eighteenth-century interior decoration market. Mezzotints on laid paper, good impressions. Chaloner Smith 21, 23, 25. …

Mezzotint engraving. A striking, life-size study of character and light, from Thomas Frye's renowned series, 'Life-sized Heads,' the most ambitious mezzotint portraits of the eighteenth century. Announced by subscription in London in April 1760 as "Twelve Mezzotinto Prints, from Designs in the Manner of Piazzetta, drawn from Nature and as large as life," the first series was limited to two hundred sets at a price of two guineas. Its success prompted a second series in 1761-1762, described in contemporary notices as six plates of "ladies, very elegantly attired." Issued without sitters' names, the plates were conceived as character studies rather than formal portraits; their dramatic chiaroscuro, close framing, and imposing scale reflect Venetian prototypes. Born in or near Dublin in 1710-11, Frye came to London as a young man and soon painted and engraved early royal likenesses, including Frederick, Prince of Wales. Within a few years he was drawn into the great experiment of English porcelain manufacture. A new manufacturer at Bow ("New Canton") invited him to lead the venture; Frye accepted eagerly and devoted fifteen years to the enterprise, claiming in later notices to be the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England. The undertaking struggled commercially and the factory ultimately failed. The strain of furnaces and administration cost Frye his health. After a recuperative tour in Wales, he returned to London, took a house in Hatton Garden, and resumed painting and printmaking with renewed intensity. It was then that he began the series of life-sized heads. Seeking vivid royal likenesses, he is said to have frequented the playhouse to catch views of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Life-sized Heads themselves, however, were "scraped from imagination" and from studio models (Smith, p. 516). The mezzotints incorporate the fashions and attitudes of the early 1760s. Above all, they show mezzotint at the height of its expressive power, transforming bust-length figures into life-size presences whose faces seem to emerge from, and retreat into, shadow. The treatments of light reveal the possible influence of Joseph Wright of Derby. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (London, 1884), 16.…

Mezzotint engraving. A striking, life-size study of character and light, from Thomas Frye's renowned series, 'Life-sized Heads,' the most ambitious mezzotint portraits of the eighteenth century. Announced by subscription in London in April 1760 as "Twelve Mezzotinto Prints, from Designs in the Manner of Piazzetta, drawn from Nature and as large as life," the first series was limited to two hundred sets at a price of two guineas. Its success prompted a second series in 1761-1762, described in contemporary notices as six plates of "ladies, very elegantly attired." Issued without sitters' names, the plates were conceived as character studies rather than formal portraits; their dramatic chiaroscuro, close framing, and imposing scale reflect Venetian prototypes. Born in or near Dublin in 1710-11, Frye came to London as a young man and soon painted and engraved early royal likenesses, including Frederick, Prince of Wales. Within a few years he was drawn into the great experiment of English porcelain manufacture. A new manufacturer at Bow ("New Canton") invited him to lead the venture; Frye accepted eagerly and devoted fifteen years to the enterprise, claiming in later notices to be the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England. The undertaking struggled commercially and the factory ultimately failed. The strain of furnaces and administration cost Frye his health. After a recuperative tour in Wales, he returned to London, took a house in Hatton Garden, and resumed painting and printmaking with renewed intensity. It was then that he began the series of life-sized heads. Seeking vivid royal likenesses, he is said to have frequented the playhouse to catch views of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Life-sized Heads themselves, however, were "scraped from imagination" and from studio models (Smith, p. 516). The mezzotints incorporate the fashions and attitudes of the early 1760s. Above all, they show mezzotint at the height of its expressive power, transforming bust-length figures into life-size presences whose faces seem to emerge from, and retreat into, shadow. The treatments of light reveal the possible influence of Joseph Wright of Derby. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (London, 1884), 18.…

Mezzotint engraving. A striking, life-size study of character and light, from Thomas Frye's renowned series, 'Life-sized Heads,' the most ambitious mezzotint portraits of the eighteenth century. Announced by subscription in London in April 1760 as "Twelve Mezzotinto Prints, from Designs in the Manner of Piazzetta, drawn from Nature and as large as life," the first series was limited to two hundred sets at a price of two guineas. Its success prompted a second series in 1761-1762, described in contemporary notices as six plates of "ladies, very elegantly attired." Issued without sitters' names, the plates were conceived as character studies rather than formal portraits; their dramatic chiaroscuro, close framing, and imposing scale reflect Venetian prototypes. Born in or near Dublin in 1710-11, Frye came to London as a young man and soon painted and engraved early royal likenesses, including Frederick, Prince of Wales. Within a few years he was drawn into the great experiment of English porcelain manufacture. A new manufacturer at Bow ("New Canton") invited him to lead the venture; Frye accepted eagerly and devoted fifteen years to the enterprise, claiming in later notices to be the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England. The undertaking struggled commercially and the factory ultimately failed. The strain of furnaces and administration cost Frye his health. After a recuperative tour in Wales, he returned to London, took a house in Hatton Garden, and resumed painting and printmaking with renewed intensity. It was then that he began the series of life-sized heads. Seeking vivid royal likenesses, he is said to have frequented the playhouse to catch views of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Life-sized Heads themselves, however, were "scraped from imagination" and from studio models (Smith, p. 516). The mezzotints incorporate the fashions and attitudes of the early 1760s. Above all, they show mezzotint at the height of its expressive power, transforming bust-length figures into life-size presences whose faces seem to emerge from, and retreat into, shadow. The treatments of light reveal the possible influence of Joseph Wright of Derby. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (London, 1884), 19.…

Mezzotint engraving. A striking, life-size study of character and light, from Thomas Frye's renowned series, 'Life-sized Heads,' the most ambitious mezzotint portraits of the eighteenth century. Announced by subscription in London in April 1760 as "Twelve Mezzotinto Prints, from Designs in the Manner of Piazzetta, drawn from Nature and as large as life," the first series was limited to two hundred sets at a price of two guineas. Its success prompted a second series in 1761-1762, described in contemporary notices as six plates of "ladies, very elegantly attired." Issued without sitters' names, the plates were conceived as character studies rather than formal portraits; their dramatic chiaroscuro, close framing, and imposing scale reflect Venetian prototypes. Born in or near Dublin in 1710-11, Frye came to London as a young man and soon painted and engraved early royal likenesses, including Frederick, Prince of Wales. Within a few years he was drawn into the great experiment of English porcelain manufacture. A new manufacturer at Bow ("New Canton") invited him to lead the venture; Frye accepted eagerly and devoted fifteen years to the enterprise, claiming in later notices to be the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England. The undertaking struggled commercially and the factory ultimately failed. The strain of furnaces and administration cost Frye his health. After a recuperative tour in Wales, he returned to London, took a house in Hatton Garden, and resumed painting and printmaking with renewed intensity. It was then that he began the series of life-sized heads. Seeking vivid royal likenesses, he is said to have frequented the playhouse to catch views of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Life-sized Heads themselves, however, were "scraped from imagination" and from studio models (Smith, p. 516). The mezzotints incorporate the fashions and attitudes of the early 1760s. Above all, they show mezzotint at the height of its expressive power, transforming bust-length figures into life-size presences whose faces seem to emerge from, and retreat into, shadow. The treatments of light reveal the possible influence of Joseph Wright of Derby. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (London, 1884), 13.…

Mezzotint engraving. A striking, life-size study of character and light, from Thomas Frye's renowned series, 'Life-sized Heads,' the most ambitious mezzotint portraits of the eighteenth century. Announced by subscription in London in April 1760 as "Twelve Mezzotinto Prints, from Designs in the Manner of Piazzetta, drawn from Nature and as large as life," the first series was limited to two hundred sets at a price of two guineas. Its success prompted a second series in 1761-1762, described in contemporary notices as six plates of "ladies, very elegantly attired." Issued without sitters' names, the plates were conceived as character studies rather than formal portraits; their dramatic chiaroscuro, close framing, and imposing scale reflect Venetian prototypes. Born in or near Dublin in 1710-11, Frye came to London as a young man and soon painted and engraved early royal likenesses, including Frederick, Prince of Wales. Within a few years he was drawn into the great experiment of English porcelain manufacture. A new manufacturer at Bow ("New Canton") invited him to lead the venture; Frye accepted eagerly and devoted fifteen years to the enterprise, claiming in later notices to be the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England. The undertaking struggled commercially and the factory ultimately failed. The strain of furnaces and administration cost Frye his health. After a recuperative tour in Wales, he returned to London, took a house in Hatton Garden, and resumed painting and printmaking with renewed intensity. It was then that he began the series of life-sized heads. Seeking vivid royal likenesses, he is said to have frequented the playhouse to catch views of George III and Queen Charlotte. The Life-sized Heads themselves, however, were "scraped from imagination" and from studio models (Smith, p. 516). The mezzotints incorporate the fashions and attitudes of the early 1760s. Above all, they show mezzotint at the height of its expressive power, transforming bust-length figures into life-size presences whose faces seem to emerge from, and retreat into, shadow. The treatments of light reveal the possible influence of Joseph Wright of Derby. Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotinto Portraits (London, 1884), 11.…