From Frith’s Derby to the cult of beauty

Associated media

Christie’s Victorian &British Impressionist art sale, 15 December

London – Christie’sVictorian & British Impressionist Art sale will offer 90 paintings and works on paper at auction on 15 December 2011, by a variety of artists ranging from the Pre-Raphaelites to the British Impressionists, including Millais, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Cowper, Munnings, Clausen and de Glehn, for an overall estimate in excess of £4.5 million. The sale is led by the masterly panorama Derby Day (illustrated above) by William Powell Frith, RA (1819-1909), which is the first original working of the famous Derby Day painting, the masterpiece of the artist at Tate Britain. Fresh to the market, this significant picture has been recently rediscovered in New England, North America where it hung on the walls of an unlocked beach house for the past 50 years - it is estimated at £300,000 to £500,000. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd 2011

See Christie's website for the results of this sale