George Henry Southwell
August 17 1865 - May 13 1961
groups
John Innes (seated) watching George Southwell painting, 1926
George Southwell was born in Spain in 1865. He emigrated to British
Columbia in 1910, according to Harper, who further noted
that he executed an oil painting of the first B.C. Legislature
building, and that his work is in the collection of the B.C.
Archives in Victoria. He exhibited at the
Vancouver Exhibition in 1926 and
1930. He exhibited with the Island Arts
and Crafts Society from 1931 to 1936.
Southwell watercolour, possibly Emerald Lake, courtesy private collection
A portrait of Southwell by John Ford
Clymer was exhibited in the 1929 B.C.
Society of Fine Arts 21st annual exhibition. An article
in the Vancouver Province noted that Southwell and
Clymer had a studio together in the Empire Block, before
Clymer moved east.
The Lions from Unnecessary Mountain, courtesy private collection
Southwell also exhibited with the B.C.
Society of Fine Arts in their May 1923 exhibition. Much
later he showed work in the 1945 B.C. Artists exhibition
at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
He died in Garden Bay in 1961 at the age of 95, according to
B.C. Vital Statistics, although McMann gives 1958 in
Biographical Index of Artists in Canada. This was
possibly taken from erroneous information in a list of members
of the Island Arts and Crafts Society
on file at the Vancouver Art Gallery Library, which gives
the same incorrect date.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
References
100 YEARS OF B.C. ART (refer to VAG58)
THE FINE ARTS IN VANCOUVER, 1886 - 1930 (refer to THOM69)
EARLY PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS IN CANADA (refer to H70)
ISLAND ARTS AND CRAFTS SOCIETY - List of Exhibitors
ARTISTS OVERLAND (refer to BAG80)
ARTISTS IN CANADA 1982 - UNION LIST OF ARTISTS' FILES (refer to AIC82)
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF ARTISTS IN CANADA (refer to BIAC03)
1 reference cited for Southwell: Harper's Early Painters and
Engravers in Canada.
VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY - B.C. ARTISTS FILES (refer to VPL)
CITY & PROVINCIAL DIRECTORIES 1918/20/25-29/32/34 (refer to DIR)
B.C. VITAL STATISTICS ON-LINE death (refer to BCVS)
Clippings
"A rapid preliminary survey of the walls of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts
Exhibition in the School Board offices on
Hamilton Street reveals two pictures of outstanding merit where all are good. One is a portrait
and the other is a landscape - for want of a better name.
The portrait is painted by G.H. Southwell and is of the late
Alexander McKelvie. It is not a large picture but it stands out just as a great character
stands out in a crowd of ordinary people. The painting is rugged and effective and the touch
of life is in the flesh and on the eyes. It may or may not be a good presentment of the
actual face, but it is a great presentment of character and those qualities that go to make a
personality as distinct from a mere face. There is experience, rough wisdom, kindliness and
a wide tolerance in the picture that mark it as the work of an artist of great feeling."
From "B.C. Fine Arts Society Exhibition (First Notice)"
Vancouver Province, May 15 1923
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