EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

Frederick Goodall… Royal Academician

MY feature this week is dedicated to a man of rare talent who had a fantastic start in life but sadly his end was not as rosy.

Frederick Goodall was born in London in 1822.

He was the second son of Edward Goodall Snr, a steel line engraver, the younger brother of Edward Goodall Jnr and older brother to Walter and Eliza Goodall, all of whom went on to become renowned artists.

Frederick showed very early promise and was educated at The Wellington Road Academy.

At the age of only 16 he was commissioned by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to paint six watercolours of the newly built Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe, the pre cursor for the later Rotherhithe Tunnel.

Four of these six paintings were displayed at The Royal Academy.

Indeed, Goodall’s works were exhibited at The Royal Academy every year from 1838 to 1859 inclusive with multiple paintings being exhibited in many of those years.

His first oil painting to be shown won him a silver medal and he was duly elected an associate of The Royal Academy in 1852 with full Academician status being granted to him in 1863.

Goodall made two exploratory visits to Egypt in 1858 and 1870, during which trips he lived among the Bedouin tribesmen, using his time to paint scenes of Egyptian life.

He was to go on to paint many more pictures with an eastern theme for the rest of his life.

More than 170 watercolours and oils of these Egyptian street scenes and portraits were exhibited at The Royal Academy