William Cave Thomas - The Argument

signed and inscribed 'No.1/The Argument/W. Cave Thomas/203 Camden Rd/NW' on an old label on the reverse
pencil and watercolour
23.5 x 18.5"

William Cave Thomas was an interesting figure on the fringe of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. He is generally credited with the title of the PRB journal The Germ, and was a close friend of Ford Madox Brown, appearing frequently in his diary (published 1981). In 1848 they shared a studio and Brown described Thomas as a 'wonderful fellow I hardly know what to make of him his talents are so wonderful and varied.'

Having attended the Royal Academy Schools in the late 1830s. Thomas went to Munich in 1840 to study the work of the Nazarenes, entered the Munich Academy and worked under Hess on the frescoes in the Basilica. Two years later he returned to take part in the Westminster competitions, for which his training ideally equipped him and in which he twice won premiums. He exhibited at the Royal Academy (1843-62), the British Institution and elsewhere, concentrating on historical. literary and allegorical themes. Three papers by him on 'The Influences which tend to retard Progress of the Fine Arts' were published in the Builder in 1848, and a pamphlet, PreRaphaelitism tested by the Principles of Christianity: An Introduction to Chnman Idealism, appeared in 1860.

His work, in a severe Germanic style which reflects his training, is rare. The enigmatic title of the present picture seems to be typical.