John Anster Fitzgerald, or 'Fairy Fitzgerald' as he became known, is one of the most celebrated exponents of Fairy Painting which captured the imagination of the Victorian public and continues to delight collectors today. Born in London in 1823, there were few signs in Fitzgerald's youth to indicate that he would go onto to become a prolific exhibitor at the Royal Academy and at the British Institution. Having had little or no formal training he first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1845 at the age of twenty-two, and would continue to do so regularly until 1881, his final exhibit coming in 1902 after a long hiatus.

Fitzgerald lived his whole life in a London where the public imagination was becoming increasingly gripped by idea...