John Wycliffe Lowes Forster

John Wycliffe Lowes Forster

John Wycliffe Lowes Forster, portrait and landscape painter, writer (b at Norval, Canada W 31 Dec 1850; d at Toronto 24 Apr 1938). In 1869 he began studying portraiture in Toronto. He travelled to England and Europe in 1875 and 1879 and studied painting in Paris. He returned to Toronto to establish a permanent studio in 1883, and over the next few decades he exhibited locally and internationally.

The successor to G.T. BERTHON, Forster was among the most popular academic portraitists in Toronto during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His sitters included Alexander Graham BELL, Bliss CARMAN, Timothy EATON, and prime ministers LAURIER, MACDONALD and KING, among others. His commissions for the Ontario government included portraits of historical figures: James WOLFE, John Graves SIMCOE, Isaac BROCK and William Lyon MACKENZIE. 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.