School’s Out, 1885 by Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith




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Cowley Abbott
326 Dundas St West
Toronto ON M5T 1G5
Ph. 1(416)479-9703
Frederic M. Bell-Smith
School’s Out, 1885
watercolour and gouache
signed and dated 1885 lower left
23 x 38 ins ( 58.4 x 96.5 cms ) ( sheet )
Estimated: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Kaspar Gallery, Toronto, circa 1987
Private Collection, Italy
Masters Gallery, Calgary as “Winter Street”, 1885
Private Collection, Vancouver
A.K. Prakash & Associates, Inc., Toronto as “The Return from School”, 1885
Acquired by the present Private Collection, March 2019
“The Joint Annual Exhibition of the R.C.A. and the O.S.A.”, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Toronto, 14 May 1885, no. 316 as After a Snowstorm
“Our Children: Reflections of Childhood in Historical Canadian Art”, Varley Art Gallery of Markham, 13 April‒23 June 2019 as “School's Out”, 1885
Bell–Smith alternated between a traditional, academic approach and a looser, more vibrant aesthetic in his work. The artist’s preferred medium was watercolour, which he mastered in this charming work “School's Out”. He advocated for a distinctly Canadian style and believed that it would rival European masterpieces. Perhaps taking inspiration from his father, a portrait and miniature artist, Bell–Smith captures one of Canada’s classic winter activities in this detailed and playful street scene after a recent snowfall. On the left side of the picture, three young girls walk together on the sidewalk in stylish winter dress. As an article of historical documentation, the picture gives insight into the winter fashions of the time. In front of the girls are two boys preparing to throw snowballs at their friends in the middle of the street. The individual footprints on the ground and the light dusting of snow across the tree branches demonstrate Bell-Smith’s great attention to detail.
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Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith
(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