Samuel Luke Fildes

 

Samuel Luke Fildes

Born Samuel Luke Fildes in 1843, Fildes was the grandson of noted reformer Mary Fildes, who had protested at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. Fildes depicted the poor of the north, an uncommon subject in the 19^th century to be found in fine art. The presentation of these subjects, most famously in his works of The Doctor and Application for admission to the casual ward, confronted an audience which had little knowledge of the condition of the poor.

This juxtaposition of a wealthy audience and the subject of the poor could be connected with how Gaskell presents Wilson’s visit to the Carson’s. The meeting of the lowest and highest society could be translated in the prints created.

Fildes was a celebrated artist among high society and received his title of ‘sir’ Luke Fildes shortly after his painting Applicants for admission to the casual ward, was exhibited at The Royal Holloway in 1874.

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, Application for Admission to the Casual Ward, Oil Painting, 1874, The Tate, [accessed 21 July 2022]