Seven Dials

This is a painting in a series of at least nine scenes of London by Arthur Boyd Houghton (1836-1875).

This painting has been identified as the area around Seven Dials (the area between Soho and Holborn) and contains an array of different characters some of which appear in the other paintings, such as the lady on the far right, possibly modelled on his wife just before her early death.

The painting can be dated to before 1863 as the Metropolitan Police uniform changed from the one shown in the painting in that year. A charity school boy is illustrated in the centre foreground and a soldier on the right.

Houghton produced relatively few paintings before moving into book and journal illustration and becoming an expert in graphic work. He lived in London and produced a unique take on London society. His works often appear dreamlike with fantastic often grotesque figures in them, redolent of Dore, tinged with a Pre-Raphaelite vibrant colour. They are typical mid-nineteenth century works in that they follow a narrative sequence with a dense crowd of figures conveying different story lines.