Lot 4132
Marmaduke Matthews, RCA, OSA (England 1837-1913 Canada), Summer Idyll
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Image 10 3/4 x 7 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions
Marmaduke Matthews was a Canadian artist of British birth who played a formative role in the development of the country’s early artistic institutions. Born in Barcheston, Warwickshire, he immigrated to North America in 1860, spending several years in New York before settling in Toronto in 1869. Deeply embedded in Canada’s emerging art community, he served as Secretary of the Ontario Society of Artists and, from 1880 to 1890, as Secretary of the Royal Canadian Academy. His British background and connections also proved valuable in shaping early collecting efforts, including trips to London to select works for Canadian audiences.
By the 1890s, Matthews had achieved considerable prestige, serving as President of the Ontario Society of Artists from 1894 to 1895, and was selected, along with fellow Academy members, to document the Rocky Mountains for the Canadian Pacific Railway, making trips west in 1887 and 1889. He was also instrumental in founding Toronto’s Wychwood Park, an artists’ enclave established in the 1870s and developed further in the 1880s and 1890s, where he built the community’s first home and helped shape its vision as a residential artistic retreat centered around a shared park and pond. The watercolor offered here may depict a scene within this historic setting.
Sheet has been laid on backing with unknown adhesive; some minor toning to sheet.
