John Arthur Fraser (1838 – 1898)

John Arthur Fraser was born in London, England and studied art at the Royal Academy School with FW Topham and Richard Redgrave. He came to Canada in 1856, and settled in Montreal. He spent time in Ottawa and Toronto working in photography. He moved to The United States and only returned to Canada for a short time in 1886 to paint the Rockies for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was a founding member of the Society of Canadian Artists and was made a charter member of the RCA in 1880. He was a founding member of the Ontario Society of Artists and was their vice president from 1872 to 1874. His watercolours are notably skillful and filled with light and served as a great inspiration to later artists, Horatio Walker, George Reid and Henry Sandham. He died in New York in 1898.

“Early Painters and Engravers of Canada” J. Russell Harper. 1970