Additional Images

Provenance:

Alex Fraser Galleries, Vancouver gallery label verso;
A.H. Wilkens Auctions & Appraisals, Toronto, November 26, 2019, Lot 324;
Estate of W.A. Ross MacFadden, Toronto

Note:

John Charles Maggs was a well-known painter of coaching scenes who was born in Bath, UK. He ran a school of painting at his studio located at 34 Gay Street known as the Bath Art Studio, where his daughter assisted him. During his lifetime, Maggs was widely patronized by lovers of coaching, including Queen Victoria, the Duke of Beaufort and Joseph Grego. The Bath Road, depicted in “London to Bath, the George Inn - Cheltenham,” 1888, was the main thoroughfare linking Bristol and London. It took two days for passengers to travel between Bath and London.

Maggs carried out the tradition of coaching painting well into the railway age. His single and paired canvases of this subject were highly regarded by the late Toronto businessman and prominent art collector, Ross MacFadden, for their level of detail and realistic depiction. Mr. MacFadden's personal art files include correspondence from various art galleries in the UK offering him oils as well as fine prints.