John Bell-Smith
December 27 1810 - December 30 1883
John Bell-Smith was born in Rotherhithe, Kent, England in 1810. He arrived in
Montreal in 1867 with his son Frederick Marlett Bell-Smith.
John Bell-Smith was a portrait painter. In 1867 he founded the
Society of Canadian Artists, a group that only lasted three or
four years, according to Macdonald. His son was one of the members of the group.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| DATE |
EXHIBITION |
ARTWORK |
|
|
|
| 1880 |
RCA
1st Exhibition |
The rest by the way |
|
|
The billet doux |
| 1883 |
RCA
Exhibition |
Woodland spring |
|
|
View on St. Helen's Island |
References
EARLY PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS IN CANADA (refer to H70)
ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS - EXHIBITIONS & MEMBERS 1880 - 1979
(refer to RCA81)
ARTISTS IN CANADA 1982 - UNION LIST OF ARTISTS' FILES (refer to AIC82)
A DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN ARTISTS (refer to M)
Good one-page biography of Bell-Smith.
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
9 references listed for John Bell-Smith.
Clippings
"In 1867, John Bell-Smith, an English portrait painter, and his son
F.M. Bell-Smith arrived in Montreal, where they settled
for a short time before moving to Hamilton and later to Toronto. J. Bell-Smith
was sixty-six years of age when he arrived in Canada and his son was twenty-one.
This young man had studied painting in both London and Paris before emigrating
to Canada, and was a conspicuous and picturesque figure in Canadian art circles
for fifty-six years. His best work was undoubtedly his Rocky Mountain sketches,
although he painted a number of street scenes with figures, particularly of
London, and the haunts of Dickens, subjects which had a strong attraction for him."
From Canadian Landscape Painters, Albert H. Robson; page 54
The Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1932
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