''Dolly Varden'' is an 1842

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

by the English

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Slee ...

featuring the fictional character of Dolly Varden from the 1841 novel ''

Barnaby Rudge ''Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'' (commonly known as ''Barnaby Rudge'') is a historical novel by English novelist Charles Dickens. ''Barnaby Rudge'' was one of two novels (the other was ''The Old Curiosity Shop'') that Dickens pub ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

. During the early

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

there was a fashion for paintings based on works of theatre and literature, generally featuring popular characters and scenes. ''Barnaby Rudge'' was Dickens fifth published novel. It takes place around the time of the

Gordon Riots The Gordon Riots of 1780 were several days' rioting in London motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. They began with a large and orderly protest against the Papists Act 1778, which was intended to reduce official discrimination against British ...

in 1780. Frith, a member of the art group known as

The Clique A clique is a close social group. Clique or The Clique may also refer to: Math and computing * Clique (graph theory) ** Clique problem in computer science Business and brands * Clique (vodka), a Latvian vodka sold in the United States * Clique ...

, first met Dickens at the time of the painting. The two men established a friendship that lasted until the author's death in 1870. The work was exhibited at the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

. Frith painted at least four versions of the painting, including one for Dickens himself. The best known of these is now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

References

Bibliography

* Gordon, Catherine May. ''British Paintings of Subjects from the English Novel, 1740-1870''. Garland, 1988. * Green, Richard & Sellars, Jane. ''William Powell Frith: The People's Painter''. Bloomsbury, 2019. * Trotter, David. ''William Powell Frith: Painting the Victorian Age''. Yale University Press, 2006 * Wood, Christopher. ''William Powell Frith: A Painter and His World''. Sutton Publishing, 2006. Paintings by William Powell Frith 1842 paintings Paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum Portraits of women Adaptations of works by Charles Dickens Paintings based on literature Works based on British novels {{1840s-painting-stub