The Rejected Poet

The Rejected Poet
Artist	William Powell Frith
Year	1852
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	118 cm × 94.2 cm (46 in × 37.1 in)
Location	Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery

The Rejected Poet is an 1852 oil painting by the British artist William Powell Frith. It depicts a scene from the early eighteenth century. It depicts the failed attempt by the poet Alexander Pope to woo the traveler and writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Despite her best efforts to remain serious, she burst into laughter, leading to a lifelong emnity from the grouchy Pope. The painting emphasis the aristocratic setting and the statue of a pair of entwined lovers. It is also known by the title Pope Makes Love To Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

Although he became best known for his celebrated for scenes of everyday Victorian life, Frith established his name producing pictures based on popular literature or history. It has been suggested that the model who posed for Lady Mary may have been Mary Alford who became Frith's long-term lover and has a number of children with him. The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1852 held at the National Gallery. It was shown again at the Salon of 1855 in Paris, part of the wider Exposition Universelle. Powell Frith was awarded a gold medal for his submissions to the Salon that year. Today the painting is in the collection of the Auckland Art Gallery, having been given by Frank Mappin in 1974. A second slightly smaller version from 1863 is in the Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Bibliography

• Paxman, Jeremy. The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age. BBC Books, 2009.
• Ridley, Glynis. The Life of the Author: Alexander Pope. Wiley, 2026.
• 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.