BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

Thomas William Fripp

March 23 1864 - May 30 1931

Vancouver Studio Club and School of Art (Founding Member)
B.C. Society of Fine Arts (Charter Member, President 1909-1916, 1926-1931, Member 1909-1931)
B.C. Society of Fine Arts/B.C. Society of Artists: Exhibitor's Timeline
Vancouver Sketch Club (President)
Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver (Member 1931)
Island Arts and Crafts Society (Member)
B.C. Art League (Member)
British Columbia Artist (B.C.A., 1921)


Thomas Fripp was born in London, England, on March 23, 1864. He was the youngest son of George Arthur Fripp, court painter to Queen Victoria. He was a grandson of Nicholas Pocock, one of the founders of the Royal Water Colour Society, England. Fripp completed art training at St. John's Wood Art School, followed by a year in Italy studying in Venice, Florence, and Sienna. He returned to England and took further training at the Royal Academy. He moved to Canada in May, 1893, arriving first in Quebec and then moving to Hatzic, British Columbia.

In 1893 Hatzic would have been a far cry from the civilized centers of London and Europe. The 1899 Wrigley's Directory lists Fripp living in Hatzic, occupation "farmer." The rigours of homesteading were perhaps too much for him, and he moved with his wife to Vancouver. He worked in a Vancouver photo studio, and taught art at Crofton House private girl's school, in addition to having his own art studio.

Fripp showed his work in the first annual exhibition of the Vancouver Arts and Crafts Association in 1900. He was a member of the Vancouver Studio Club formed around the turn of the century. This group became the nucleus for the B.C. Society of Fine Arts (BCSFA) founded in 1908. Fripp jointly served as the BCSFA's first Vice-President with Bernard McEvoy.

Fripp exhibited with the Art Association of Montreal in 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918.

Fripp exhibited in the 1920 Annual Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts, held at the Vancouver School Board offices on Hamilton Street.

Fripp led sketching trips to the B.C. Interior, in 1921 and 1922 at least. In 1922 he led a trip with R.S. Sherman, Maud Sherman, Mabel Bain and others to Pemberton Meadows and Darcy, reported in the Western Women's Weekly in the July 29, 1922 issue under the title "Sketching Trip Enjoyed." In 1922 Fripp wrote a long article titled "The Case of Local Artists", which was published in the column "Artists and Their Doings" in the Western Woman's Weekly in the July 29th issue.

In 1929 Fripp exhibited four paintings in the Citizens' Loan Exhibition of Water Colors sponsored by the B.C. Art League at their "temporary gallery" in the Hudson's Bay Company store at 649 Seymour Street. Fripp also loaned a number of paintings by his father George A. Fripp to the exhibition.

Fripp was one of only three local artists to display work in The Founders Collection, the first exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery when it opened in October 1931, although he was not alive to enjoy the honour.

Fripp was a fairly prolific painter, working mostly in watercolour but occasionally in oil. He specialized in landscapes, expressing the B.C. mountains and coast in atmospheric veils of mist and cloud. He was one of many artists who visited and painted Savary Island, and two of his paintings of the island ("Old Wharf, Savary Island", and "Savary Island") were included in the Special Exhibition of his work at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1931, the year he died.

He also exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy in 1928 and in 1930. His work is in the collection of the National Gallery, Ottawa, Government House, Ontario, and Government House, B.C.

He exhibited in the Seattle Art Museum's annual Northwest Artists exhibition in 1930.

Fripp had a long and distinguished career in Vancouver - as an artist, as a teacher, and as an ardent and hard-working contributor to numerous arts groups, including the B.C. Art League, the Vancouver Sketch Club, the Studio Club, the Island Arts & Crafts Society, the Palette and Chisel Club, and the Art, Historical, and Scientific Association of Vancouver. A memorial bronze bust of Fripp was commissioned by the Citizens of Vancouver, sculpted by Charles Marega, and is now in the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Fripp variously signed his work Thomas W. Fripp; Tom W. Fripp; Tom Fripp; T.W. Fripp; and T.W.F.


Bust of Fripp by Marega

A memorial exhibition of Fripp's paintings was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery after his death in 1931.

Also, per card file at Vancouver Art Gallery Library:
     B.C. Society of Fine Arts: 1926, May 1929, November 1929; 1936; 1960; 1967
     Island Arts and Crafts Society: 1912 - 1930
     Vancouver Exhibition: 1925; 1930 (representing both BCSFA and Vancouver Sketch Club).

Fripp taught a number of students over the years. Artists known to have studied under Fripp include:
     Maud Rees Sherman
     Ruiter Stinson Sherman
     Mrs. T.D. Bulger
     John Wood Laing
     Mabel Bain
     Mr. Bailey


SOLO EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION LOCATION
1931 Dec. 15 - 1932 Jan. 5 Special Memorial Exhibition VAG

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
DATE EXHIBITION ARTWORK
1900 Sept. 25-27 VACA First Annual Exhibition Cheam Peak
Mt. Baker, Sunset
Southwold, Lincolnshire
English Scene
Hatzic Lake
The Net Mender
Sunset on the Thames
Hatzic Prairie
Autumn Sunset, Hatzic
1909 April 20 - 28 BCSFA   First Annual Exhibition The Quiet Hour
Storm in the Hills
Pitt Lake
Sunrise Over Sumas Mountain
Golden Lakes
Autumn Morn (Hatzic Lake)
Portrait
1909 June 19 - July 17 Studio Club   Exhibition of Pictures A Grey Morning
When the Sun is Low
A Cloudy Day
Low Water, Silver Creek
1909 Oct. 27 - Nov. 6 Studio Club    Autumn Exhibition "admirable exhibits"
1909 November BCSFA   Second Exhibition Passing Clouds
Autumn Glow, Stave Lake, B.C.
Cloudy Day
View from Bridal Veil Falls, Pitt Lake
Jocelyn Fripp
1910 May BCSFA   Third Exhibition Sunset After a Storm
Beginning of Bush Fire
March
Clearing After Rain
When the Wind Blows in From the Sea
Arbutus, Albert Head, B.C.
Towards Evening, Oak Bay
1911 November BCSFA   Fall Exhibition (No. 7)
(No. 35)
("noble studies")
1912 Nov. 25 - 30 BCSFA   Annual Exhibition Moraine Lake - Laggan
Lake Louise - a grey day
Mt. Sir Donald
Mt. Temple from "Saddle Back"
Asulkan Glacier from Mt. Abbott
Lake Agnes
Snow Flurry, Mt. Aberdeen
Souvenir of Venice
Stave Lake
Carved Panel
1913 June 2 Wanderbund Club   Group Exhibition ?
1915 April BCSFA   Works by Members Consolation Valley
Lake McArthur, Canadian Rockies
Mt. Aberdeen, Laggan
Mt. Babel, Valley of the Ten Peaks
View from Hatzic, B.C.
Mt. Temple from Sentinel Pass
Willows, Hatzic
1916 June 13 Winnipeg Art Gallery   Paintings by Western Artists Fraser River, Mission, B.C.
Burrard Inlet
Stone Mountain
1916 September BCSFA    Annual Exhibition ("five small pictures of a high class")
1917 Sept. 14 - 22 BCSFA   Eleventh Exhibition Along the Coast
A Sunny Day
Willows
The Asulkan Glacier, B.C
Fir Trees
Sentinel Pass, Canadian Rockies
Mt. Sir Donald Glacier B.C.
1918 April Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (Mount Fairview from Mount Temple)
A Peaceful Country
1919 Sept. 6 - ? Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition Mount Cheops from Mt. Abbot
The Rock Slide
1920 Feb. 7 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (exquisite little landscapes)
1920 April 10 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition A Bit of Mount Sir Donald
(several mountain studies)
1920 September 18 - 25 BCSFA   Annual Exhibition Lake Agnes, Canadian Rockies
The Old Barn
Autumn
The Old Bridge, Hatzic Island
Decorative Landscape
Eiffel Mountain, Paradise Valley
The Lions From North Vancouver
The Day's Awakening
View of Mount Sir Donald
1920 Dec. 4 - ? Sketch Club    Annual Exhibition The Day's Awakening
Decorative Landscape
A Sunny Afternoon
1921 Sept. 19 - 24 BCSFA   13th Annual Autumn Floods
The Stave
Alta Lake, P.G.E. Railway
Wamalkin, B.C.
Sunset, Pitt River
Misty Morn
A Sunlit Shore
Dwarf Pines, Alta Lake
1921 Nov. 5 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (three landscapes)
1922 April 1 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (BC mountain scenery)
1922 Sept. 16 - 23 BCSFA   14th Annual Autumn Mist, Cheakamus, B.C
Souvenir D'Arcy
Summit, Gates Lake, Birken, P.G.E.
Moraine Lake, Laggan
Green Lake, P.G.E.
Alta Lake, P.G.E.
Along the P.G.E. near Rethel, B.C.
D'Arcy Evening
Sunset Glow, Anderson Lake, P.G.E.
1923 March 3 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (two sketches)
1923 May 12 - 19 BCSFA   15th Annual Peep of Mount Whistler, Alta Lake B.C.
Garibaldi Lake
The Black Tusk, Garibaldi, B.C.
Mt. Sir Donald, Glacier, B.C.
A Grey Day, D'Arcy
Towards Evening, Anderson Lake
Anderson Lake, B.C.
Mt. Bident, Consolation Valley, Alta.
Early Morning, Cheakamus, B.C.
1923 June Sketch Club    Semi-Annual Exhibition (titles not known)
1924 Feb. 2 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition Indian Shack
Lulu Island
1924 May 3 - 17 BCSFA   16th Annual A Gray Day, Hatzic, B.C.
Lulu Island
A Quiet Evening, P.G.E. Railway
Mount Alpha, from Chee Kye
D'Arcy Glacier, Sunset
Shores of Pitt Lake
Yellow Pine, P.G.E.
Peep of the Lions
The Glacier
1924 July Sketch Club    Midsummer Exhibition A Gray Day (Hatzic)
1924 Aug. 9 - 16 Vancouver Exhibition   Annual Exhibition Mount Whistler, Alta Lake, B.C.
Yellow Pines, P.G.E. Ry.
Edge of the Lake
1924 September Sketch Club    September Exhibition Edge of Lake Anderson
1924 October Sketch Club    October Exhibition The Glacier, D'Arcy
1924 December Sketch Club    Semi-Annual Exhibition Mount Babel, Moraine Lake
1925 May 9 - 16 BCSFA   17th Annual Mt. Babel
Garibaldi Lake: A Gray Day
View of Mt. Stephen, Can. Rockies
Near the Summit of Mt. Omega, Early Morning
The Upper Squamish, B.C
Along Anderson Lake, B.C.
Harrison Lake, B.C.
Mt. Deltaform (Valley of the Ten Peaks)
Aloutte (sic) Lake, B.C.
"Autumn", Fraser Valley
1925 Nov. 28 - Dec. 5 Sketch Club    Semi-Annual Exhibition Alta Lake
Vedder River
1926 May 8 - 15 BCSFA   18th Annual Mt. Fay, Morning Mists
Across the Lagoon, Comox, B.C.
Still Waters, Alta Lake
Part of Glacier
The Sentinels
Sunrise Through Smoke
1927 April 2 Sketch Club    Monthly Exhibition (titles not known)
1927 June 10 - 25 BCSFA   19th Annual Near Hatzic
Alouette Lake
Valley of Devolation
View on Pitt Lake
Part of the Hermit Range
1929 May 18 - June 8 BCSFA   21st Annual An Old Orchard, Hope B.C.
Rock, Snow and a Grey Sky
Mt. Cheops, Glacier B.C.
Vanishing Vancouver
The Snows of March
Towards Evening, Jervis Inlet
The Tantalus
Autumn on the Coast (B.C.)
Guardians of Vancouver
Eiffel Mt., Paradise Valley
1929 October BCAL   Citizens' Loan of W/C Sunset on the Hermit Range
Alta Lake
Mt. LeFroi & Glacier
Mount Blanchard
1929 Nov. 16 - 30 BCSFA   Winter Exhibition Johnstone's Straits
Klemtu, B.C. from S.S. Cardena
Gill Island, B.C.
Seymour Canyon, B.C.
The Rain Storm from S.S. Cardena
Skeena River, B.C.
Chatham Sound, B.C., from the S.S. Cardena
1930 May 31 - June 14 BCSFA   Spring Exhibition Lulu Island
Pitt Lake (tree study)
Rock Study, Mt. Aberdeen
Tranquility
Snow Traceries, Mt. Temple
Along the Coast, B.C.
Mountains and Lakes, B.C.
Up Kutze Inlet
Pitt Lake, B.C.
Yellow Pine, Anderson Lake
Forest and Stream
The Black Tusk, Garibaldi Park
Sechelt
1930 Aug. 6 - 16 VanExh   Oil Paintings & Water-colours Gill Island, B.C.
Chatham Sound, B.C.
Storm Clouds, Jervis Inlet
Mountain and Lake, B.C.
Cheops, Glacier, B.C.
Mountain and Lake, B.C.
1930 Aug. 22 - Sept. 6 CNE   Water Colours Klem-tu, B.C.
           Graphic Art Forest and Stream (charcoal)
 
POSTHUMOUS
1931 October 5 - ? VAG   The Founder's Collection Pitt Lake, B.C.
Near the Summit - "Omega," Tantalus Range
1932 May - July VAG   All Canadian Exhibition Mt. Blanchard, Pitt Lake
Mt. Tupper
1936 June 26 - July 12 BCSFA   26th Annual Mt. Tupper
Glacier, Anderson Lake
1946 July 2 - 28 VAG   Jubilee Exhibition Passing Shadows, Jervis Inlet
After the Storm, Stave Lake
1950 April 25 - May 14 BCSA   40th Annual Glacier on D'Arcy Range

References - BIBLIOGRAPHY

Refer to BIBLIO.

References - GROUP EXHIBITIONS

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM - NORTHWEST ARTISTS EXHIBITIONS 1914 - 1975
     Refer to NWA BC artists by exhibition
     Refer to NWAA BC artists alphabetically

SOUVENIR CATALOGUE OF EXHIBITIONS OPENING THE NEW VANCOUVER ART GALLERY (refer to VAG51)

100 YEARS OF B.C. ART (refer to VAG58)

CONTEMPORARIES OF EMILY CARR IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (refer to SFU74)

References - GENERAL

ISLAND ARTS & CRAFTS CLUB 5th ANNUAL EXHIBITION (refer to IACS14)

Mr. Thos. W. Fripp
      Museum and Art Notes February 1927, Vol. II, No. 1
      Published by the Art, Historical, and Scientific Association of Vancouver.

The Late T.W. Fripp by Greenjacket
      Museum and Art Notes June 1931, Vol. VI No. 2; pages 60-61 (includes photograph)
      Published by the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver

WHO'S WHO IN NORTHWEST ART (refer to WWNA41)

BRITISH COLUMBIA - A CENTENNIAL ANTHOLOGY (refer to BCCA58)

THE FINE ARTS IN VANCOUVER, 1886 - 1930 (refer to THOM69)

EARLY PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS IN CANADA (refer to H70)

CREATIVE CANADA - Volumes One & Two (refer to CC71)
      Includes half a column of information on Fripp.

THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SKY by Lorne E. Render
      1974, Glenbow-Alberta Institute; published by McClelland and Stewart West
      ISBN 0-7712-1001-2; 224 pages, illustrated throughout in colour and b&w
      Includes biographical information on Fripp and one of his paintings illustrated

ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - LIST OF EXHIBITORS

FROM DESOLATION TO SPLENDOUR (refer to FDTS77)

ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS - EXHIBITIONS & MEMBERS 1880 - 1979 (refer to RCA81)

ARTISTS IN CANADA 1982 - UNION LIST OF ARTISTS' FILES (refer to AIC82)

PHILLIPS IN PRINT - The Selected Writings of Walter J. Phillips on Canadian Nature and Art
      Selected and Edited by Maria Tippett and Douglas Cole
      1982, The Manitoba Record Society Publications, no ISBN, 160 pages
      Includes short article on Fripp by Phillips, originally published 1926 and 1931.

MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS - SPRING EXHIBITIONS 1880 - 1970 (refer to MM88)
      Exhibited 9 paintings from 1915 to 1918.

A CENTURY OF SCULPTURE (refer to SSBC98)

Not listed in MACDONALD'S DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN ARTISTS VOL. 1 A - F

THE CANADIAN ENCYCLOPEDIA (refer to CE00)

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (refer to EBC00)

BEYOND THE CANVAS - Artists, Stories and the Sea (refer to VMM00)

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
      17 references listed for Fripp.

CITY & PROVINCIAL DIRECTORIES 1899-1923 (refer to DIR)

Clippings

"Of the water colors, it was generally conceded that Mr. T.W. Fripp's drawings simply stood alone, being the only work which may be said to be really representative of the genuine old school of water color, painting and following the traditions of this truly English art; in some of W. Fripp's warm, broad, sunny effect, notably in a charming little sketch of Southwold, and near Streathy, on the Thames (England), one recognizes the influence of a great master who for nearly half a century was closely connected with the water color society."
      From "British Columbia Letters, No. IV"
      The Canadian Architect and Builder 1900

"Mr. Tom Fripp's "Venetians Threading Beads" is a new departure for him (Ed.: in oil) . . . In water colors, Mr. Ferris showed but four small drawings, while in this class the only other exhibitor was Mr. Tom Fripp whose large drawing "Chill October" is the most important work that artist has shown here. His sketches "Venice" and "Burrard's Inlet," are full of light and atmosphere. In black and white, the same artist was the sole contributor, principally portrait studies in chalk or pencil."
       From "British Columbia Letters, No. VII"
       The Canadian Architect and Builder 1901

"The outcome of various meetings since last May was a united one held last week, when the following list of members of the new undertaking passed muster and various other inaugural business was done. It is intended to limit the membership of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts - that is the appellation chosen - to 36 members. The names are Messrs. T.W.Fripp ... "
      From "Society of Fine Arts"
      Victoria Times, November 20 1908

"The officers are as follows: ... vice-presidents Thos. W. Fripp ... "
      From "Society of Fine Arts"
      Victoria Times, April 2 1909

" ... T.W. Fripp ... and several other artists have clearly proved that round Vancouver is a real "artist's country"."
      From "Vancouver Studio Club Spring Exhibition" by Felix Penne
      B.C. Saturday Sunset, July 3 1909

"At this moment I am not aware of the arrangements made for art lectures or "gossips" during the exhibition. I hope there will be several. The lecture on watercolors by Mr. Fripp was both interesting and instructive and such lectures tend to make art something more than a means of "home adornment" - a real factor in the building up of a good fabric of society."
      From "The Studio Club Autumn Exhibition" by Felix Penne
      B.C. Saturday Sunset, October 30 1909

". . . and T.W. Fripp . . . are artists who contribute admirable exhibits."
      From "Vancouver Studio Club" by Felix Penne
      B.C. Saturday Sunset, November 6 1909

"Among its members ... is Thos. W. Fripp, a son of the eminent water colorist of the same name ... "
      From "Art in British Columbia" by Bernard McEvoy
      Opportunities Magazine, 1910

"Of Mr. T.W. Fripp's noble studies of mountain, sea and sunset, Nos. 7 and 35 will be the favorites, the latter shows a freedom in the treatment of the upper air effects which has sometimes been lacking in this great artist's well-known studies of nature at rest."
      From "Some Pictures by B.C. Artists" by A.N. St. John Mildmay
      News Advertiser, November 21 1911

"This year's exhibitors were ... T.W. Fripp ... "
      From "Fine Arts Society Makes Fine Exhibit"
      Vancouver Daily World, November 23 1911

"Mr. Fripp's delicate landscapes held their usual high place in the apreciation of visitors and brother-artists. "
      From "Our Germ Of Art" by Eugene de Lopatecki
      British Columbia magazine, December 1911

"The pictures showed up strongly against the buff-toned walls and the miniatures and photos were arranged on flower-decked tables. The principal exhibitors were ... Mr. Fripp ...
       From (Wanderbund Club Exhibition)
       Vancouver Sun, June 3 1913

"The exquisite finish and refined character of Mr. Tom Fripp's watercolors are known beyond the limits of Vancouver. He is one of the few artists in the present exhibition who seem to have arrived at a definite style and whose pictures, to use a phrase common with art dealers, are "signed all over". He has five small pictures of a high class in the present exhibition."
      From "With The B.C. Artists" by "A Visitor"
      Vancouver Province, September 27 1916

" ... from Fripp's bold and striking mountain scenes conveying skilfully the effect of the loneliness and majesty of these snowclad giants upon the beholder ... "
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts - An Appreciation" by R.A.H.
      Westminster Review, September 1917

"Mr. T.W. Fripp, the well known watercolor painter of mountain scenery, who only recently joined the club, sent in two splendid examples of his work. One, showing Mount Fairview as seen through a snowy mist from Mount Temple, the other a truly poetic rendering of its title, "A Peaceful Country," being a view, in autumn, of lake scenery in the artist's own district, Hatzic."
      From "Miss Neilson Terry is Guest of Sketch Club"
      Vancouver Daily World, April 1918

"Notable among the exhibits was a cleverly drawn sketch of "Sunset on Lake and Mountain" by Miss Maud Sherman, a maiden of 15 summers, a pupil of Mr. T. Tripp (sic) who had also on view a sketch of "Mount Cheops from Mt. Abbot," and "The Rock Slide.""
      From "Sketch Club Opens Winter Season's Work"
      Vancouver Daily Province, September 8 1919

"The work of a painter of mountains in another medium is seen in the masterly water-colors of Mr. Tom Fripp, who carries out and improves upon the traditions of the Royal Watercolor Society of England, of which his father was a distinguished member. There is a delicacy and refinement in Mr. Fripp's method, combined with a poetic sense of the grandeur of his subjects, which make his work very attractive, and the examples which he shows in the present exhibition can not fail to arrest the beholder by their marvellous execution and finish."
      From "Local Work is on View" by Bernard McEvoy
      Vancouver Province, October 2 1919

"In spite of the winter months being little adapted to outdoor sketching, quite a representative showing was made, the centre of interest being a number of exquisite little landscapes by Mr. T.W. Tripp (sic)."
      From "Sketch Club Has Resumed Exhibitions"
      Vancouver Daily World, February 9 1920

"The president, Mr. Tom Fripp, helped by exhibiting several of his mountain studies, "A Bit of Mount Sir Donald" being a strong, direct bit of painting."
      From "Art Exhibits Fewer But Maintain Standard"
      Vancouver Daily Province, April 13 1920

"For some time the meetings and exhibitions of the club were held at the studio of Miss Wake, but about two years ago an independent studio was secured at the present quarters, 342 Pender street west. This location has become known for its art associations, the building having also contained the studios of such well known artists as Mr. Thos. W. Fripp, Miss Margaret Wake, Miss Isabel Weir, and Mr. Norman Hawkins."
       From "Sketch Club Is Well Organized" by I.B.
       Vancouver Province, July 17 1920

"The work arranged was varied and interested. Mr. Tom Fripp showed some of his beautiful landscapes, including "Lake Louise", "The Lions", from North Vancouver, "A Grey Day On The Coast", and "Old Hatzic Bridge", also a very finely executed landscape in charcoal."
      From "Vancouver Sketch Club"
      Western Woman's Weekly, October 9 1920

"The club, which is indeed fortunate in having such a president as Mr. T.W. Fripp has each month a few examples of his very beautiful work in its exhibitions. And this time three pictures from Mr. Fripp were shown, each different in character and in handling. The biggest, a view of hills taken at Pitt Lake, called "The Day's Awakening," was one of the most powerful of Mr. Fripp's landscapes, forceful, and handled in a masterly way. Another, extremely delicate and refined, a sketchy "Decorative Landscape," was also very much admired, as was also his picture of "A Sunny Afternoon."
     It is the general opinion of people who know Mr. Fripp's work that he is the past master of painters of British Columbia scenery and especially of its mountains. And numerous are the lovers of his work. One of the features of the Sketch Club exhibits is the added pleasure of a visit to the president's own studio, which is thrown open to visitors as soon as the afternoon's class is dispersed."
      From "Annual Exhibit by Sketch Club"
      Vancouver Province, December 6 1920

"The exhibitors were: ... Mr. Thos. Fripp, three landscapes; ... "
      From "Many View Sketch Club Exhibit and Much Work Shown"
      Vancouver Sun, November 7 1921

"A magnificent watercolor of British Columbia mountain scenery by Mr. Thos. Fripp was admired."
      From "Sketch Club Tea Enjoyable Event; Good Work Shown"
      Vancouver Daily World, April 3 1922

"T.W. Fripp contributes two sketches in his well-known style ... "
      From "Vancouver Sketch Club"
      Vancouver Province, March 5 1923

"As the most distinctive artist of B.C. mountain scenery, T.W. Fripp contributes a number of very able and charming canvases where the minutest detail of his subject is indicated in a broad and masterly style that has often proved the despair of his imitators."
      From "B.C. Fine Arts Society Exhibition (First Notice)"
      Vancouver Province, May 15 1923

"What can one say of Mr. Fripp's work that has not already been said. Miraculously he paints cloud and mist in an exquisite "shimmering scale of pearl-grays and delicious silvers."
      From "Semi-Annual Exhibit by the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia Monthly, June 1923

"Those exhibiting included ... Mr. T. Fripp ... "
      From "Sketch Club Semi-Annual Art Exhibition"
      B.C. Ladies' Mirror, December 15 1923

"Two little water colors by the veteran, Mr. Tom Fripp, an "Indian Shack" and "Lulu Island", though not characteristic of most of this artist's appealing scenic work, were in his happiest vein, the soft warm coloring of the foreground, with shadowy, snow-capped peaks in the background, in the former being notably good."
      From "Sketch Club Exhibit Held"
      Vancouver Daily World, February 4 1924

"Mr. Fripp's "Indian Shack" is full of romance and charm, with all the magic of Mr. Fripp's inimitable coloring."
      From "Impressions of the Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia Monthly, March 1924

"In Mr. Fripp's "Glacier" there is a delicate cobalt sky, gray clouds, ice-clad mountains piercing the clouds, a glacier-blue mist, cold so cold, blue reflections in the water and reflections of snow, purple scarred rocks. The beauty of nature reaches Mr. Fripp through opalescent mists, through indescribable blues volatilized into shimmering vapor, through a luminous greenness that makes one shiver, so icy is its jewelled loveliness. "The Glacier" was painted in an exquisite mood, when beauty, which is spiritual energy, was at its supreme height."
      From "Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Art" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia magazine, June 1924

""A Gray Day," Hatzic is by British Columbia's foremost painter of mountain scenery, Mr. T. Fripp. This composition shows an unusual and difficult color scheme, handled in masterly style. The landscape is swimming in a sea of violet mist, and is mirage-like in its delicacy."
      From "The Midsummer Exhibit of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Bertha Lewis
      British Columbia Monthly, July 1924

"Mr. Fripp's "Edge of Lake Anderson" shows a jewelled bit of water between the trees. There is an exquisite intangible quality about the trees, as though it is not trees we see, but their very spirit."
      From "September Exhibition of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia Monthly, September 1924

"In the larger realm of landscape subjects are: "Mount Babel, Moraine Lake," by Mr. T. Fripp - an artist who excels in interpreting the stormy aspects of nature, the wind-swept and cloud-draped wild glacial regions of British Columbia; ... "
      From "Semi-Annual Exhibition of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Bertha Lewis
      British Columbia Monthly, January 1925

"In the water color section Mr. T.W. Fripp's "Alta Lake" stood out for its soft beauty and grandeur. A charming sketch of "Veddar (sic) River" was also shown by the same artist."
      From "Private View Precedes Sketch Club Exhibition"
      Vancouver Province, November 30 1925

"The exhibition would not recognize itself without a work by the veteran water colorist and poetical painter of the mountains, T.W. Fripp, and he was there with a goodly picture which needed no signature. While some of the pictures verged on an assured style, T.W. has got there, and long ago passed the experimental stage visible in most amateur exhibitions. The production of a style being the result of a very large number of efforts and a consequent experience of the best way to do things, whether in literature, or art, stylists are rare and therefore prizable."
      From "By The Way In Art"
      Vancouver Province, April 4 1927

"... one is rather glad to see some of the earlier apostles of art in our midst still sticking to their good old style. This is especially noticeable in the magnificent mountain pictures by Thos. W. Fripp, who has five in the present show, all of them of a covetable nature, but even here there is a touch of modernism in this artist's "Mount Lefroy Glacier," No. 59."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts" by Bernard McEvoy
      Vancouver Province, April 28 1928

"In the two pictures, "After the Storm" and "Passing Shadows," Mr. Tom Fripp has shown his singular facility in depicting the soft beauty or the rugged grandeur of our rivers, lakes and mountains. In delicate mists and vapours he draws a veil over the landscape's more rugged features. Yet, not alone of mountains, but of woodland streams can Mr. Fripp's brush write poetry, and we hope the Museum may be able to acquire an example of these also."
      From "The City Art Gallery" by G.H. Lardner
      Museum and Art Notes, Vol. IV, No. 1. March 1929

"Tom Fripp at his best, with seven of his water colors at astonishingly low prices which in London would fetch double the money, should receive the notice of collectors. His "Near the Head of Pitt Lake, B.C." has the note of grandeur he has attained in his interpretation of our mountains, and so has the other big one."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts" by Diogenes
      Vancouver Province, November 13 1930

"Art Gallery Will Receive Memorial"
      Vancouver Province, October 1931

"Fripp Bust to be Presented"
      Vancouver Sun, October 1931

"Loan Exhibit to Open in Gallery"
      Vancouver Star, November 30 1931

"Fripp's Pictures" by Diogenes
      Vancouver Province, December 16 1931

"In the World of Art" by Doris Milligan
      Vancouver Sun, December 19 1931

"Thomas W. Fripp may well be considered one of the most pioneer artists of British Columbia. Born in London, in 1864, he migrated to the Western Province in 1893, where, for a few years, he worked at the arduous task of clearing a bush farm. Before coming to Canada he had studied art with his father, G.A. Fripp, R.W.S., and also in France and Italy. An accident which injured his hand led him to give up farming and return to his painting. For thiry years he was active as a water-colour painter, producing many pictures of the mountains and Pacific Coast. He was a founder member and first president of the British Columbia Society of Artists, organized in 1917 (sic). His death, in 1931, removed an artist who deserves a place of importance in the history of art in British Columbia."
      From Canadian Landscape Painters, Albert H. Robson; page 188
      The Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1932

"Fripp Pictures Placed On View"
      News Herald, May 11 1940

"Artist Family's Pictures Shown"
      Vancouver Sun, May 13 1940

"One of Vancouver's earliest painters in watercolor was Tom Fripp. His paintings have a beauty and charm all their own, and people who are familiar with his style can never mistake his rendering of towering mountain peaks. He was never a painter of sunshine, but excelled in depicting cloud, and fog and misty moods in the mountains of which all British Columbians have intimate knowledge. "Glacier on D'Arcy Range" is a good example of his work."
      From "Watercolors Highlight of Art Showing" by Mildred Valley Thornton
      Vancouver Sun, May 3 1950

"The original group of founders included the outstanding B.C. painter of the time, Tom W. Fripp ... "
      From "B.C. Society of Artists - A History" by J.D. Parker
      B.C. Society of Fine Arts 40th Annual Exhibition Catalogue, 1950

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