On London Bridge, 1897

Richard Sugden Williams, Toronto (1834-1906)

By descent to Sarah Norris Williams (1835-1926), wife of R.S. Williams

Bequeathed to Mabel Williams

By descent to the present Private Collection, Montreal

By descent to a Private Collection

Skinner, auction, Marlborough, Massachusetts, 17 November 2022, lot 53

Private Collection, Montreal

18th Annual Exhibition, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, National Gallery, Ottawa, from 9 March 1897, no. 18 as On London Bridge, 1897

Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith captures a moment of observation along London Bridge as a group of young figures lean over the stone parapet, looking out toward the River Thames. In the hazy distance, the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral emerges through the mist, anchoring the scene within the familiar London skyline. Rather than focusing on the activity below or behind the figures, Bell-Smith turns his attention to the act of looking itself. Set apart from the group, a seated elderly man looks downward, in contrast to the outward focus of the others. man looks downward, in contrast to the outward focus of the others. This subtle division introduces a narrative tension between old and young, and between individual and collective experience—devices characteristic of Bell-Smith’s anecdotal approach to painting. 

On London Bridge was originally owned by Richard Sugden Williams, a Canadian manufacturer of musical instruments. For many years this painting hung on the drawing room wall of the Williams home at the corner of Wellesley and Sherbourne Streets in Toronto. Bell-Smith painted a portrait of R.S. Williams' wife, Sarah Norris Williams in 1898. This painting was bequeathed to Mabel Williams, and from there it descended two more generations within the family. The Williams mansion was demolished in 1954 to make way for the construction of the Wellesley Hospital in Toronto.