John Wycliffe Lowes Foster
John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, Canadian portrait painter, was born in Norval, Ontario in 1850. He began his artistic training in Toronto in 1869 as an apprentice to the portrait painter John Wesley Bridgman (1833-1902). In 1871 he was awarded first prize in the amateur class at the annual fair of Upper Canada Agricultural Society for his portrait of Bridgman. In 1879 Forster studied for three months at the South Kensington Art School in London. A short time later, he enrolled at the Académie Julian in Paris. Upon returning to Canada in 1883, Forster set up his own studio in Toronto, became a member of the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy, and quickly gained acclaim for his portraits of notable people, including Bliss Carmen (1861-1929), Timothy Eaton (1834-1907), Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841-1919), and Queen Victoria (1819-1901).
In the 1870s, Forster developed friendships with American Southerners who came to Toronto during the American Civil War. These contacts led to many commissions. In 1915, Forster was visiting Richmond, Virginia for the great Confederate Reunion that marked the 50 years of peace between the north and south when General Thomas Mumford commissioned him to design a flag for the State of Virginia based on its heraldic arms. In 1917, the Virginia flag designed by Forster was unfurled at the second inauguration of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
In England during the 1890s, he was able to obtain royal permission to sketch Queen Victoria and her household in June 1897 during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The resulting painting, Thanksgiving Service in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle for Queen Victoria and Household, is one of Forster’s finest historical tableaux.
On April 25, 1938, J.W.L. Forster died at the age of 87 following an automobile collision. His funeral was held two days later at Carlton Street United Church in Toronto. His friend The Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King attended the funeral. Forster was buried in the Forster family plot in Brampton Cemetery, near his childhood home.
Forster’s lifelong dream was to establish a portrait gallery of “historic and eminent Canadians”. Upon his death, he bequeathed 15 of his portraits to form the nucleus of a national portrait gallery and $10,000 for its creation. Although the Corporation of the National Portrait Gallery was patented in 1939, the Second World War slowed its development. In 1955, a plan was negotiated to exhibit Forster’s collection in universities and elsewhere to promote awareness of the National Portrait Gallery. One exhibition was held in 1956 at the McIntosh Gallery of the University of Western Ontario in London. The members of the board of the National Portrait Gallery transferred its paintings and the administration of Forster’s donation to the Royal Ontario Museum.
In the 1870s, Forster developed friendships with American Southerners who came to Toronto during the American Civil War. These contacts led to many commissions. In 1915, Forster was visiting Richmond, Virginia for the great Confederate Reunion that marked the 50 years of peace between the north and south when General Thomas Mumford commissioned him to design a flag for the State of Virginia based on its heraldic arms. In 1917, the Virginia flag designed by Forster was unfurled at the second inauguration of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
In England during the 1890s, he was able to obtain royal permission to sketch Queen Victoria and her household in June 1897 during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The resulting painting, Thanksgiving Service in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle for Queen Victoria and Household, is one of Forster’s finest historical tableaux.
On April 25, 1938, J.W.L. Forster died at the age of 87 following an automobile collision. His funeral was held two days later at Carlton Street United Church in Toronto. His friend The Right Honourable William Lyon Mackenzie King attended the funeral. Forster was buried in the Forster family plot in Brampton Cemetery, near his childhood home.
Forster’s lifelong dream was to establish a portrait gallery of “historic and eminent Canadians”. Upon his death, he bequeathed 15 of his portraits to form the nucleus of a national portrait gallery and $10,000 for its creation. Although the Corporation of the National Portrait Gallery was patented in 1939, the Second World War slowed its development. In 1955, a plan was negotiated to exhibit Forster’s collection in universities and elsewhere to promote awareness of the National Portrait Gallery. One exhibition was held in 1956 at the McIntosh Gallery of the University of Western Ontario in London. The members of the board of the National Portrait Gallery transferred its paintings and the administration of Forster’s donation to the Royal Ontario Museum.