Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith
(1846 - 1923) OSA RCA
Previously Sold Works
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
In the White Mountains, New England
oil on board
signed and titled on the reverse; unframed
5.25 x 8.5 ins ( 13.3 x 21.6 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $500.00 - $700.00
Price Realized $295.00
Sale date: June 23rd 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
The Manoir Richelieu
oil on canvas, laid down on board
signed (incised) lower right; titled on the reverse; unframed
4 x 5.75 ins ( 10.2 x 14.6 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $500.00 - $700.00
Price Realized $295.00
Sale date: July 14th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Dutch Landscape
oil on board
signed with initials lower right; inscribed”Holland” with unfinished sketch of landscape on the reverse; unframed
5.25 x 8.5 ins ( 13.3 x 21.6 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $400.00 - $600.00
Price Realized $300.00
Sale date: November 17th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Mountain Landscape
oil on board
unsigned; unframed
6 x 9.25 ins ( 15.2 x 23.5 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $500.00 - $700.00
Price Realized $300.00
Sale date: November 17th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Study of a Tree
oil on board
unsigned; unframed
8 x 6 ins ( 20.3 x 15.2 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $300.00 - $500.00
Price Realized $270.00
Sale date: December 15th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Shoreline at Dusk
oil on board
unsigned; unfinished landscape on the reverse; unframed
5.5 x 8.75 ins ( 14 x 22.2 cms )
Auction Estimate: $400.00 - $600.00
Price Realized $270.00
Sale date: December 15th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Near Perth
oil on board
signed with initials lower right; unframed; condition noted: area of pigment loss present at upper right quadrant
7.5 x 5.5 ins ( 19.1 x 14 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $400.00 - $600.00
Price Realized $236.00
Sale date: May 12th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Sailboat on a River
watercolour
unsigned (trimmed); unframed
6 x 9.75 ins ( 15.2 x 24.8 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $200.00 - $300.00
Price Realized $118.00
Sale date: February 18th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Rocky Shoreline
watercolour, laid down on card
unsigned; unframed
4.75 x 11.25 ins ( 12.1 x 28.6 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $200.00 - $300.00
Price Realized $118.00
Sale date: February 18th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Village Scene
watercolour on board
unsigned; unframed
7.25 x 10.5 ins ( 18.4 x 26.7 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $200.00 - $300.00
Price Realized $118.00
Sale date: February 18th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Mountain Peak
watercolour
unsigned; unframed
6.75 x 10 ins ( 17.1 x 25.4 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $200.00 - $300.00
Price Realized $118.00
Sale date: July 14th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Street Scene in Winter
watercolour, laid down on board
unsigned; unframed
9.75 x 8.25 ins ( 24.8 x 21 cms ) ( board )
Auction Estimate: $200.00 - $300.00
Price Realized $118.00
Sale date: July 14th 2020
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
New Piccadilly Circus
watercolour
signed lower left; titled on a label attached the reverse of the framing
10.25 x 7 ins ( 26 x 17.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $1,800.00 - $2,200.00
Price Realized $1,600.00
Sale date: March 20th 2019
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
The Lake Shore at Gimle - Manitoba
oil on board
signed lower right and titled on the reverse; unframed
6 x 9.25 ins ( 15.2 x 23.5 cms ) ( board )
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH
Opera Scene
oil on board
unsigned, unfinished opera sketch on reverse; unframed
4.75 x 8.5 ins ( 12.1 x 21.6 cms ) ( board )
Consignments
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F.M. Bell-Smith Biography
(1846 - 1923) OSA RCA
Born in London, England, his father was John Bell-Smith a portrait and miniature painter. He studied in London at the South Kensington Art Schools, and in Paris under Courtois, Dupain, and T.A. Harrison. He arrived in Montreal in 1867 and worked for a time as a photographer. Active in art circles he was associated with his father in the founding of the Society of Canadian Artists in 1867 along with W.L. Fraser, Otto R. Jacobi, Henry Sandham and A. Vogt. He lived mainly in Montreal until 1871 when he married Annie Myra Dyde and established residence at Hamilton (1871 and 1879-81). He was active in Southern Ontario as an art teacher in public schools at London, (1881-8); Art Director of Alma College, St. Thomas, Ontario, (1881-90) and Director at the Toronto Art School in 1889.
His style falls somewhere between mid Victorian and the modern movements of freer expression. Dr. Hubbard notes how Bell-Smith’s canvas “Lights of A City Streetâ€reveals his conservative inclination of “sober brownish style†and E.F.B. Johnston on the other hand spoke of his brilliant colour and freedom of treatment. The artist chose this conservative style perhaps more for historical scenes. He painted figures, portraits, cityscapes, seascapes, beach scenes, and mountain scenes and most of his work was done in oils or watercolours. Paul Duval tells of how he sold his water colours in quantity at the market place, especially his meticulously done street scenes. He traveled to Western Canada and painted a number of water colours and oils of the Rocky Mountains.
He also went to England to do a series of pictures on the Death of Sir John Thomson who died at Windsor Castle minutes after being sworn in, by Queen Victoria, as a member of the Privy Council of Canada. While at Windsor Castle he did several canvases of the Queen and two of these are in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. In 1896 he studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris and returned to Alma College Canada in 1897 to resume his duties as art director until 1910. He was an active as an illustrator and contributed to a series of pictures for the book “Picturesque Canada†which contained prose by George Monro Grant and illustrations by more than a score of American and Canadian artists. It was first published about 1882. He was elected Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880 and Member in 1886; Member, Ontario Society of Artists (1872). He died in Toronto, Ontario.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977
