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Edward Scrope Shrapnel

{{short description|English-Canadian painter}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Edward Scrope Shrapnel

| image =

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| birth_name = Edward Scrope Shrapnel

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1845|01|12}}

| birth_place = Alverstoke, Hampshire, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1920|09|25|1845|01|12}}

| death_place = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

| nationality = English-Canadian

| education =

| field = Painter

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Edward Scrope Shrapnel (1845–1920) was an English-born Canadian artist. After an earlier period spent in Quebec, his family settled in Orillia, Ontario. Having learned the basic art of drawing in the military, Shrapnel became adept in watercolour, his preferred medium. In the 1870s, he began contributing works to the Ontario Society of Artists. He was elected as an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880. After a five-year stint as a drawing teacher for a women's college, he moved west to Victoria, British Columbia. Shrapnel was president of Victoria's first art association. His painting subject matter included landscape, still lifes, and genre, often incorporating scenes from Ontario and British Columbia.

Biography

Shrapnel was born on 12 January 1845, in Alverstoke, Hampshire.Bosher 2010, pp. 673, 675. His grandfather was Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the shrapnel shell. His father was Henry Needham Scrope Shrapnel, a military officer with the rank of captain who was variously posted to India, Ireland, and Bermuda. In 1855, Edward's father was assigned to Quebec, his family accompanying him. Here young Edward first cultivated his love of the outdoors.Thompson 1976, p. 158 Carrying on the family tradition, Edward served with the Victoria Rifles of Quebec for seven months in 1865–1866, helping to repel Irish Fenian raids.Bosher 2010, p. 674.{{Cite news|title=Untitled|newspaper=Vancouver Daily World|date=30 June 1900|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90167456/edward-scrope-shrapnel-military/|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211025827/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90167456/edward-scrope-shrapnel-military/|archive-date=11 December 2021|url-status=live|via=Newspapers.com {{free access}}}} As a consequence of his officer training, Shrapnel learned how to draw accurately. After the border tensions eased, the Shrapnel family returned to Salisbury. In 1868, Edward married Edith Mary Neale,Wiltshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1916. Reference Number: 883/22. - via Ancestry.ca. and they eventually had six daughters and one son.{{Cite news|title=Was Resident Here for 30 Years|newspaper=Victoria Daily Colonist|date=26 September 1920|page=7|url=https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist62y243uvic/page/n5/mode/2up?q=shrapnel|via=Internet Archive}} The family soon moved back to Canada, this time settling near Orillia, Ontario. Henry Shrapnel was a talented amateur artist, and Edward became proficient in the use of watercolour, which became his favourite medium.Thompson 1976, p. 159. In Ontario, Edward participated each fall in duck and deer hunting, and on occasion engaged in wild pigeon shoots.Thompson 1976, p. 157. His funeral notice described him as an "ardent sportsman".{{Cite news|title=Untitled|newspaper=The Victoria Daily Times|date=27 September 1920|type=funeral notice|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67497241/funeral-of-edward-scrope-shrapnel-27/|access-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205185825/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67497241/funeral-of-edward-scrope-shrapnel-27/|archive-date=5 December 2021|url-status=live|via=Newspapers.com {{free access}}}}

File:View of Hotel Mount Baker, Oak Bay.jpgIn 1872, Shrapnel was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, and he contributed works to that organization until 1892. He became an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts when it was formed in 1880. For five years during the 1880s he held the position of drawing master at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby.Harper 1970, p. 287. In 1889, one of his paintings of dead game won first prize at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition.{{Cite news|title=Artistic Paintings|newspaper=The Victoria Daily Times|location=Victoria, British Columbia|date=25 October 1889|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90163055/first-prize-toronto-industrial/|access-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207011717/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90163055/first-prize-toronto-industrial/|archive-date=7 December 2021|url-status=live|via=Newspapers.com {{free access}}}} Influenced by other artists who had travelled west on the newly opened Canadian Pacific Railway, Shrapnel moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he spent the rest of his life. Shrapnel served as president of Victoria's first art association. He was a member of the British Campaigners' Association as a result of his Canadian military service, having reached the rank of colonel. In 1890, he contributed 18 paintings to the Vancouver Art Association's first annual exhibition.{{Cite web|last=Sim|first=Gary|title=Edward Scrope Shrapnel|website=British Columbia Artists|publisher=Sim Publishing|url=http://www.sim-publishing.com/bca/shrapnel.htm|access-date=5 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815101410/http://www.sim-publishing.com/bca/shrapnel.htm|archive-date=15 August 2020|url-status=live}} Shrapnel was the illustrator of Upper Canada Sketches (1898), where his twenty scenes were lithographed in brilliant colour.{{Cite book|last=Conant|first=Thomas|title=Upper Canada Sketches|publisher=William Briggs|location=Toronto|date=1898}} At the time of his death, several of his works were displayed in the British Columbia Parliament Buildings. He was interred at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria.

Shrapnel's subject matter encompassed landscape, genre, and still life.McKendry 1997, p. 189. His early works often depict the Muskoka region of Ontario, and later of British Columbia. Animals and indigenous peoples figure prominently, and he painted still lifes of fish. Some of his winter landscapes in oil are reminiscent of Cornelius Krieghoff. He eschewed the dramatic and picturesque, managing to avoid the rigid strictures of composition and style as conventionally practiced. Today, Shrapnel is best known for his watercolours of scenes across Canada.{{Cite web|title=Edward Scrope Shrapnel|website=Art Gallery of Greater Victoria|url=https://aggv.ca/emuseum/people/4295/edward-scrope-shrapnel/objects|access-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205021457/https://aggv.ca/emuseum/people/4295/edward-scrope-shrapnel/objects|archive-date=5 December 2021|url-status=live}}

Exhibitions

  • Ontario Society of Artists, 1875–1892
  • Art Association of Montreal, 1881, 1888McMann 1988, p. 352.
  • Toronto Industrial Exhibition, 1881–1892
  • Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1881, 1884–1889McMann 1981, p. 375.
  • Vancouver Art Association, 1890
  • Malaspina College, 1988{{Cite news|title=Wildlife focus of show|newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News|date=1 March 1988|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93675395/wildlife-focus-of-show-edward-scrope/|access-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129002146/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93675395/wildlife-focus-of-show-edward-scrope/|archive-date=29 January 2022|url-status=live|via=Newspapers.com {{free access}}}}

Collections

  • Royal Ontario Museum{{Cite web|title=ROM collections: Shrapnel|website=Royal Ontario Museum|url=https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/shrapnel#filters|access-date=4 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205023114/https://collections.rom.on.ca/search/shrapnel|archive-date=5 December 2021|url-status=live}}Allodi 1974, no. 1523.
  • Orillia Museum of Art & History{{Cite web|title=Search:Edward Scrope Shrapnel|website=Orillia Museum of Art & History|url=https://orilliamuseum.pastperfehttps://orilliamuseum.catalogaccess.com/advanced-search?includedFields=Objects&Creator+%28Artist%2FPhotographer%2FAuthor%29=edward+scrope+shrapnel&page=1&size=10&withImages=falseh|access-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814004123/https://orilliamuseum.catalogaccess.com/advanced-search?includedFields=Objects&Creator+%28Artist%2FPhotographer%2FAuthor%29=edward+scrope+shrapnel&page=1&size=10&withImages=false|archive-date=14 August 2023|url-status=live}}
  • Oshawa Museum{{Cite web|last=Terech|first=Lisa|title=Around Henry House – Our Paintings in the Study|publisher=Oshawa Museum Blog|date=30 August 2013|url=https://oshawamuseum.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/around-henry-house-our-paintings-in-the-study/|access-date=31 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202223950/https://oshawamuseum.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/around-henry-house-our-paintings-in-the-study/|archive-date=2 February 2022|url-status=live}}
  • Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ){{Cite web|title=Collections:Shrapnel, Edward Scrope|website=mnbaq.org|url=https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/artiste/600001599|access-date=7 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701194622/https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/artiste/600001599|archive-date=1 July 2019|url-status=live}}
  • Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
  • Museum of Vancouver{{Cite web|title=Painting: "Seascape with Two Boats," Edward Scrope Shrapnel|website=Museum of Vancouver|url=https://www.openmovportal.ca/argus/final/Portal/Main.aspx?lang=en-CA|access-date=13 August 2023}}
  • British Columbia Provincial Archives{{Cite web|title=Shrapnel, Edward Scrope, d. 1920|website=BC Archives|url=https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/shrapnel-edward-scrope-d-1920|access-date=28 January 2022}}
  • Vancouver Art Gallery

Gallery

File:Indigenous woman leaving her wigwam.jpg|Indigenous woman leaving her wigwam, 1878

File:The Couchiching Hotel at Orillia.jpg|The Couchiching Hotel at Orillia

File:Northern Lake with Trees and Islands.jpg|Northern Lake with Trees and Islands, 1904

File:Pheasants at Victoria, B.C., by Edward Scrope Shrapnel.jpg|Pheasants at Victoria, B.C.

Notes

{{reflist}}

References

  • {{Cite book|last=Allodi|first=Mary|title=Canadian Watercolours and Drawings in the Royal Ontario Museum|publisher=The Royal Ontario Museum|location=Toronto|date=1974|volume=II|isbn=0-88854-159-7}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Bosher|first=J. F.|title=Imperial Vancouver Island: Who Was Who, 1850–1950|date=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|location=Bloomington, Indiana|isbn=978-1-4500-5963-3}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Harper|first=J. Russell|author-link1=J. Russell Harper|title=Early Painters and Engravers in Canada|publisher=University of Toronto Press|date=1970|isbn=0-8020-1630-8|url=https://archive.org/details/earlypainterseng00harp|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Internet Archive}}
  • {{Cite book|last=McKendry|first=Blake|title=A to Z of Canadian art: artists & art terms|publisher=B. McKendry|location=Kingston, Ontario|date=1997|isbn=0-9693298-1-4|url=https://archive.org/details/tozofcanadianart0000mcke|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Internet Archive}}
  • {{Cite book|last=McMann|first=Evelyn de R.|title=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts/Académie royale des arts du Canada: Exhibitions and Members 1880–1979|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto|date=1981|isbn=0-8020-4139-6|url=https://archive.org/details/royalcanadianaca0000mcma|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Internet Archive}}
  • {{Cite book|last=McMann|first=Evelyn de R.|title=Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions 1880–1970|publisher=University of Toronto|location=Toronto|date=1988|isbn=0-8020-2650-8|url=https://archive.org/details/montrealmuseumof0000mcma|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Internet Archive}}
  • {{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Austin Seton|title=Spadina: A Story of Old Toronto|publisher=Pagurian Press Limited|location=Toronto|date=1976|isbn=0-88932-025-X|url=https://archive.org/details/spadina18181936s0000thom|access-date=11 December 2021|via=Internet Archive}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrapnel, Edward Scrope}}

Category:1845 births

Category:1920 deaths

Category:People from Orillia

Category:English artists

Category:19th-century Canadian painters

Category:20th-century Canadian painters

Category:Canadian male painters

Category:Canadian landscape painters

Category:British emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario

Category:Painters from Ontario

Category:19th-century Canadian male artists

Category:20th-century Canadian male artists

Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts