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Bon Echo Rock (Afternoon) by Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith

Artwork by Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, Bon Echo Rock (Afternoon)

F.M. Bell-Smith
Bon Echo Rock (Afternoon)

oil on board
signed, dated 1921 and inscribed “A” lower left; titled on the reverse
9.25 x 12.25 ins ( 23.5 x 31.1 cms )

Auction Estimate: $7,000.00$5,000.00 - $7,000.00

Price Realized $7,800.00
Sale date: June 1st 2016

Provenance:
Kaspar Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Calgary
Situated in south eastern Ontario on Lake Mazinaw, Mazinaw Rock, also known as Bon Echo, is part of Bon Echo Provincial Park. Throughout the early twentieth century until the 1930s, Lake Mazinaw was home to the Bon Echo Inn. Fashionable for families and individuals to vacation at lake resorts during this period, Bell-Smith often took sketching trips and holidays to the inn. With personal connections to the Denison family who owned the property, the artist visited often from 1911 until his death in 1923.

Applying his technical training honed from his education in England at the South Kensington School of Art and under the tutelage of his artist father, Bell-Smith depicts the steep Bon Echo rock on a bright day. The artist’s technique in watercolour can been seen in this oil painting with light atmosphere created through the watery application of the paints. The weightlessness of the ethereal clouds and calm lake stands in contrast to the impressive cliff of Bon Echo and underscores the artist’s ability to capture picturesque landscapes. A similar watercolour entitled, “Bon Echo, Lake and Rock” can be found in the collection of the Museum London, in London, Ontario.

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Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith
(1846 - 1923) OSA RCA

Current SalesHighlightsWatch Artist

Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith (1846-1923) was born in London, England and died in Toronto, Ontario. His earliest training was under his artist father. He attended the South Kensington School of Art under Alexander Hamilton until his family emigrated to Montreal, Quebec in 1867. Later, he studied in Paris at the Academie Colarossi under Joseph-Paul Blanc, Gustave Courtois, and Edmond-Louis Dupain. The artist arrived in London, Ontario in 1881 where he was appointed Art Director of Alma College (St.Thomas) and, the following year, Drawing Master at Central Public School. In 1888 he moved to Toronto where he was named principal of the western branch of the Toronto Art School. He continued to serve at Alma College until 1901. Bell-Smith was a founding member of the Society of Canadian Artists, the Ontario Society of Artists, and the Western Art League. He was elected an Academician in the Royal Canadian Academy and played important roles in many local and national artistic associations. His work was very popular in his lifetime: he painted portrait, genre, and landscape subjects in both oil and watercolour in the impressionistic, picturesque, and sublime styles of the last century. Bell-Smith also won many international honors in his career.