Menu Create a Collector Profile

City of Montreal, Canada by Washington Friend

Artwork by Washington Friend, City of Montreal, Canada

Washington Friend
City of Montreal, Canada

watercolour
signed lower left; framed as an oval
14 x 21.25 ins ( 35.6 x 54 cms ) ( overall (oval sight) )

Auction Estimate: $5,000.00$3,000.00 - $5,000.00

Price Realized $6,000.00
Sale date: December 3rd 2020

Provenance:
Joyner Fine Art, Selected Works from the Estate of the late Mrs. Ward C. Pitfield of Montreal, auction, Toronto, December 1, 1986, lot 20
Private Collection
By descent to the present Private Collection
In 1849 Washington Friend embarked on a project to paint panoramic views of Canada and the United States. The artist spent the following two years travelling within the two countries, visiting and recording the landscapes of Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and the Niagara Region, amongst many others. The resulting artworks that Friend produced for this project were then included in an exhibition touring across North America and the United Kingdom. Friend’s sketches of the rugged wilderness of Canada and the United States impressed Queen Victoria, who selected one of the sketches for her personal collection.

Share this item with your friends

Washington Friend
(1820 - 1891)

HighlightsWatch Artist

Believed to have been named for the city of his birth, Washington Friend’s family moved to Canterbury, England in 1842, after spending almost four decades in the United States. Friend moved back to the U.S. in 1845, intent on becoming an art teacher.

Following numerous setbacks, Friend acquired funding in 1849 to paint a ‘Panorama of Canada and the United States.’ The following two years contained Friend’s travels along the U.S./Canadian border, visiting several cities including Montreal, Kingston, Toronto and the Niagara region. The resulting canvas was unveiled in Quebec, as part of a performance by the artist, the painting and production then touring North America and the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria was impressed by Friend’s command performance at Buckingham Palace, leading the Queen to select one of the sketches from the project.

Washington Friend produced multiple volumes related to his travels and work, 1858’s ”Guidebook to Mr. Washington Friend’s Great American Tour of Five Thousand Miles in Canada and the United States” detailed the painter’s panorama project, while 1859’s “Our Summer Retreats - A Handbook of all the Waterfalls, Springs and Places of Interest in U.S.” provided images and details of Friend’s subsequent work.

Friend’s work was exhibited at the Art Association of Montreal and the Canadian Section of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London and can be found in private and institutional collections in Canada and the United States.