Lot 142
FREDERIC MARLETT BELL-SMITH, O.S.A., R.C.A.
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Ottawa
Literature:
Roger Boulet, Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith (1846-1923), Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, 1977, page 104, plate 95 for a very closely related work entitled The Heart of the Empire, 1909, in the collection of the Vancouver City Archives and Vancouver Centennial Museum.
Note:
Boulet’s description of the large watercolour in the Vancouver City Archives, which he calls “this most impressive watercolour,” could well describe this lot: “Both motor-driven and horse-drawn vehicles are shown in this virtuoso piece, in which the depth is achieved by an active and rather colourful foreground set against a bluish and hazy architectural background. The Bank of England is on the left of the picture, while the Royal Exchange is the dominant building of what was the ‘economic’ centre of the Empire.”