WASHINGTON F. FRIEND. [c1820-1886]

   
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Smith Falls near Parry Sound.
13 ¾ x 20 ¾ inches. watercolour on paper. signed on recto (twice). titled on verso.

A painter of English ancestry who worked in North America from 1845-51. In 1845 the artist began a 5000 mile, three-year tour of the continent. During this trip he made numerous preparatory watercolours for an enormous painting entitled “Panorama of Canada and the United States”. The work was premiered in Quebec, traveled to a number of American cities, and then to Britain. During a command showing at Buckingham Palace, London, Queen Victoria purchased several sketches.
Bibliography: Cooke, “W. H. Coverdale Collection of Canadiana”; Harper, “Early Painters and Engravers…”; Ottawa, “Catalogue of the National Gallery…”; Allodi, “Canadian Watercolours…”.