Frank William Warwick Topham (1838-1934)
A painter of genre and historical subjects, Frank William Warwick Topham began studying art under the tutelage of his father, Frank Topham (1808 to 1877). He continued his training at the Royal Academy Schools and at the Atelier Gleyre in Paris.
Topham continued to work with his father, with whom he voyaged to Ireland in 1860. In 1863, father and son traveled to Italy, a country that strongly influenced the course of the young Topham’s work. From this period on he began to paint scenes of Italy, where he was inspired by the characters and settings which were to remain his most beloved subjects.
Topham began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1863. He was elected to the New Society of Watercolorists in 1879, and to the Royal Institute of Painters in Oils in 1883.