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Frank Percy Wild
(1861 — 1950)

Frank Percy Wild was a British painter. Born in 1861 in Leeds, Yorkshire, Wild began training as an engineer before taking up painting in 1884. He studied for a while in Belgium, France and later in Spain where he developed a great proficiency for producing naturalistic portraiture. In 1895, Wild moved to the picturesque river town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire where he lived for the duration of his career. The artist produced numerous idyllic landscape scenes of the River Thames throughout his time in Marlow, though his accomplishments in portraiture are more widely recognised. In 1900 Wild was elected as a member of the Royal Society of British Arts, and exhibited at the Royal Academy several times throughout his career.

 

A popular feature of the British artistic community, Wild also found success further afield. He travelled extensively in America between the years of 1907 and 1914, where he toured several states whilst exhibiting his work. His travels lead to a prolific period of commissioned portrait work in states such as New York and South Carolina. Returning to his home in Marlow after this time abroad, Wild continued to paint lush river scenes and richly detailed and often personal portraits until his death in 1950. His work remains in a number of regional collections throughout Britain.