This winter, Dickinson will open a major selling exhibition of the drawings of Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A. (1803 – 1878). This group of drawings is the largest collection of Grant’s works assembled today and numbers over 250 individual pieces, all of which have descended directly in the artist’s family. [...].

None of the works included in this exhibition have ever been exhibited or offered for sale. Indeed, they were never intended by Grant for public exhibition, as the vast majority are sketches of personal subjects. His numerous pen-and-ink drawings of his beloved wife and children are particularly sensitive and intimate. The same can be said of his often humorous and insightful sketches of his large coterie of aristocratic, artistic and sporting friends. Through these drawings, we can build an accurate picture not only of the life of Victorian high society at work and at play, but also of Grant as a warm and sociable character – a skilled artist who was constantly absorbed in observing and sketching his companions.