Robert Clow Todd

Robert Clow Todd

Robert Clow Todd, artist, decorative painter (b at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Eng c 1809; d at Toronto 7 May 1866). Todd left a lively record of Québec winter life in a series of horse-and-sleigh paintings reminiscent of British artist Stubbs, whose work Todd may have admired while decorating carriages in Edinburgh and London before coming to Québec City in 1834. In Québec, sportsmen and officers commissioned him to paint pictures of their favourite horses; he also did summer views of MONTMORENCY FALLS and the Québec docks. He moved to Toronto in 1853, advertising as "banner, herald, sign and ornamental painter," but business was poor. He is best remembered for the crisp linear finesse and feeling for the local scene in paintings such as The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls (c 1845). He taught at both the SÉMINAIRE DE QUÉBEC and Loretto Abbey, Toronto.