John Wycliffe Lowes Forster
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Can anyone please provide more information on J.W.L. Forster? The only information I can find is the following:
Born in Norval, this internationally renowned artist attended Brampton Grammar School before apprenticing to Toronto painter John W. Bridgman, with whom he later formed a partnership. After studying in Paris, France from 1879 to 1883, he returned to Toronto, becoming a member of the Ontario Society of Artists and of the Royal Canadian Academy. Throughout his career, J.W.L. Forster painted over 500 portraits and historical tableaux of leading citizens and political, religious, business and historical figures from Canada and elsewhere, including Graham Bell, John Graves Simcoe, Isaac Brock, and Prime Ministers Laurier, Macdonald and King. Upon his death, Forster bequeathed his collection and funds to establish his lifelong dream, a portrait gallery of historic and eminent Canadians. He is represented in the federal and Ontario parliamentary collections and numerous other public collections. His writings include 2 volumes of autobiography and a survey of early Ontario artists. He is buried here in Brampton Cemetery.
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John W.L. Forster
The posting did not say where his papers and documents were I would be glad to know. i have seen some of his work including early work back to the 1870s... among other things he did an official portrait for the EMperor and Empress of Japan... I assume when Japan became a british ally after 1900. The seemingly early piece I am thinking of , and we just assume it is early , were strictly speaking guessing is somewhat in an impressionist style... the colours aren't mixed, there are independent little dots of colour and so forth. He wrote two books in his lifetime.
J.W.L. Forster
What more do you need to know about him? He was Canada's leading portrait painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no lack of information about him - from the Canadian Encyclopedia, the books he wrote (available in the library), etc.