F. A. Fraser

The Frasers of Huntingdonshire, of Scottish origin and emerging initially from the town of Bedford in the latter part of the nineteenth century, were a family of artists, known largely for their watercolour paintings, the predominant subject matter of which was the rural landscape of The Fens. Two of the family made illustrations for books and magazines.

Six of the group were the sons of an army surgeon, Major Robert Winchester Fraser (1819–1892) and his wife Mary Ann Anderson (1820–1898), who married in 1842 and produced a total of nine children. There was one son, Michie, who worked for the Consular Service and remained a bachelor. One of his sisters, Catherine, was his housekeeper. There is a suggestion that she and the other sister Margaret may also have painted.

The first Fraser to paint was Francis Arthur (1846–1924), generally known as ‘Frank’. He was a prolific illustrator; notable publications with his drawings include Great Expectations (Chapman and Hall, 1871), King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Henry Frith (George Routledge, 1884), Mark Twain's Roughing It and The Innocents At Home (Chatto & Windus, 1897),A Hero. Philip’s Book by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (George Routledge, 1889) and a number of books by Maria Edgeworth, published by George Routledge.

Next was Robert Winchester Fraser (1848–1906), who received a degree of recognition in his own lifetime, generally signing his work 'R. W. Fraser'. His pictures were regularly exhibited, including at the Royal Academy and Royal Scottish Academy. He was more widely travelled than his artistic siblings, at one point receiving a commission to go and paint in Jamaica. He died while staying at the Bristol Hotel, Gibraltar.

Both his sons were also painters. The elder, Robert James Winchester Fraser (1872–1930) signed his pictures 'R. Winter' or 'Robert Winter', to distinguish them from those by his father. Though less commercially successful than his father, Winter’s paintings have come to be well regarded and these days tend to sell at higher prices in auction. The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists calls him “the best known, and perhaps the best, of the family”.

The younger son, Francis Gordon Fraser (1879–1931) “was probably the most prolific, yet least recorded member of the famous Huntingdonshire family of landscape painters” (Jeremy Wood, ‘Hidden Talents’). “The quality of his work is variable and this has affected its value.” Perhaps realising that he was in danger of flooding the market single-handedly, he signed his work in a variety of ways. Besides F.G. Fraser, he is known to have also used F. Gordon, Alex Gordon and quite possibly several other names. His huge output was driven by penury and it would seem that many of his paintings were hurriedly completed, though there are a few in circulation of a higher standard and with greater attention to detail. It is not known how much time he spent in or around The Fens region where his brother and uncles lived. His pictures of the area may possibly have been depicted from memory, imagination or his recollection of his father’s work, given that he mostly lived in south-west London. Two of his pictures were shown at the Devon and Exeter Annual Exhibition in 1907.

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Wikipedia