Frank DADD RI ROI (1851~1929)

A much exhibited painter & illustrator of romantic historical genre in oils & watercolour. Born 1851 in Whitechapel, London. His uncle was the infamous & highly esteemed artist Richard Dadd who murdered his own father & was incarcerated in Broadmoor.
Frank spent time as a child in his grandfather's Thames side dockyard, acquiring knowledge of naval architecture which can be seen in his later river & coastal scenes. An early work was of the great Tooley Street fire.
Educated privately, he entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1871, winning a silver medal under the direction of Charles Landseer & Lord Leighton from whom he learnt the importance of good drawing & anatomical accuracy. He sold some drawings whilst still at the Academy & found employment with the engraver John Greenaway, father of Kate Greenaway, to whom the Dadds were related. He later worked for the Cassell publishing house, the Illustrated London News & produced illustrations for The Quiver & The Graphic.
Between 1880 & 1900 he exhibited dozens of paintings at the Royal Academy & other galleries. In 1897 Cecil Rhodes commissioned Frank to paint ‘The Galant Conduct of Lieutenant Fred Crewe', an incident from the Matabele War.
Dadd was an enthusiastic collector of arms & armour, costume & old furniture, accounting for the historical accuracy of his work. Charles Ward, an old RA model, sat for him over a period of thirty years, appearing variously as a smuggler, highwayman, soldier, prize fighter etc.
His favourite subject matter was romantic historical genre of the early 19th century, often portraying a story, with meticulous attention to detail in the clothing, a touch of humour & with the inevitable dog. He also painted many landscape views of favourite places in Devon, Suffolk & Ireland. Frank was a commercially successful artist who commanded high prices for his works. ‘Horses for the King', exhibited in the RI in 1901, realised £262.10 quite a considerable sum for a watercolour. In 1908 his watercolour 'Gold Lace has a Charm for the Fair', now at the Tate Gallery, was bought for £100.
In latter years Frank lived in Devon and continued to paint until his death in 1929, when an obituary appeared in the Teignmouth Post:
"His work has a pleasing freshness and delicately sensitive handling of colour that delight the eye. He continued this work right until the end in the best of health and having no warning of the heart failure that was so suddenly, so swiftly to snatch life away from him. He finished his last picture ‘Going Home' only a few days before his death"

‘The Suitor' a fabulous example of Frank Dadd's work, typically telling it's own story. Gilt framed watercolour signed and dated 1919.
£2500