The Frank Patterson Blog - Part One
Hello, my name is Caitlyn. I am currently a student at Manchester Metropolitan University, studying Public History and Heritage as a postgraduate degree. I love learning about the more practical application of history and the view materials give you to build up a social picture of a time or place. I have developed a passion in travel history. This passion came from my undergraduate history dissertation. I studied early Victorian railway excursions from 1840-1870, I particularly enjoyed the way technological advancements impacted ordinary people’s leisure time.
I have been very lucky to do a placement at the Richard Roberts Archive, which has a vast collection of advertising history, especially travel magazines. I am currently cataloguing the work of Frank Patterson (1871-1952), who was a prolific commercial artist of the Victorian period, specialising in pictures of bicycles and motor cars in a picturesque countryside scene. He created immersive and detailed landscapes using a pen and a unique lining technique which creates intricate shading. When I first visited the archive, I had not heard of Frank Patterson. However, Richard has some fantastic framed pictures of some of his original artwork and I was so taken with the work I decided that I wanted to do a project on this artist. I researched Patterson and found very little information available about him, which seemed such a shame considering the remarkable quality of his work over more than fifty years. From the information I could find, I have learned that he was a burly countryman who had two sons. He was far from the norm of a metropolitan artist, which was a great surprise. I aim to complete a project of cataloguing and databasing Patterson’s work using the materials available in the archive. I also want to raise awareness and knowledge of Patterson, and aid in the process of creating a database of Patterson’s work for the archive, so the archive can become a learning tool for other people interested in this fantastic artist. I am aiming to learn as much as possible on this immensely interesting topic and will enjoy the journey of discovery, as much as I have so far, I’m sure! Patterson stood out to me as interesting, not only for his skill and longevity, but also because his art was being featured to showcase the latest technology in cycling and motoring for the everyday person.
Double page tribute to Frank Patterson’s detailed illustrations taken from the C.T.C. Gazette, August 1952, pp. 726 and 727.
I hope to make other people aware of this remarkable artist by showcasing his works; in particular by highlighting interesting elements that I have found through my research and cataloguing process. I will use this material to create an exhibition on the life and work of Frank Patterson within the archive and I hope to present his work in an exciting way that will get other people hooked on his art, as Richard and I already are. This will be a series of blogs, focussing on different areas of the research process and Patterson’s work, alongside his drawings to highlight his skill and versatility as an artist. Please see above, a tribute to Patterson in the CTC Gazette, a publication to which he contributed to for many years. His first and last drawings are depicted, representing how his great skill never wavered.
Join me for my next instalment in a week’s time. I will be revealing much more about the Frank Patterson story and the exciting discoveries I make during my internship at the Richard Roberts Archive.
See you next time,
