Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith

Bell-Smith was born in London, England where he began his training under his father before studying at the South Kensington School of Art in England. He began his career as a portrait miniaturist. The development of photography forced portrait artists such as John Bell-Smith to pursue other artistic interests, which is probably the reason for their immigration to Canada in 1867. Both father and son were instrumental in founding the Society of Canadian Artists in Montreal. Frederic was also named a founding member of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1872, and was named an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy upon its formation in 1880.

Over the course of the remainder of his career he travelled across the country several times recording the Canadian landscape through his highly attuned British watercolour style, capturing light and atmospheric effects with great sensitivity. Bell-Smith first visited the Rocky Mountains in 1887 under a promotional programme designed by the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, William Van Horne. Along with the photographer William Notman Jr., and the painter Lucius O'Brien, Bell-Smith was among the first to take advantage of the offer, which gave him access to such vistas as Banff, Kicking Horse Pass and Victoria Harbour.