Artist Information
Artist
George Henry Southwell (1865-1961)Role
PainterDate made
1937Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Bilbao, Spain, George Henry Southwell was a Canadian artist noteworthy for his paintings of the B.C. interior in his role as provincial artist and for his rotunda murals of the B.C. Parliament Buildings in Victoria. Southwell studied at the Kensington Art School and the Slade in London, England. He did murals for the 1888 Paris and 1908 Brussels Expositions depicting British industries, immigrating to Canada, arriving in Vancouver in 1910. He then spent some years sketching and painting the B.C. interior as well as doing murals such as those done in collaboration with the historical scene painter John Innes (1863-1941) for the David Spencer Store in Vancouver, and illustrating books. He was then employed by the B.C. Government Publicity Bureau as provincial artist, and spent some years traveling throughout the province painting some 200 works of B.C life and scenery.
These works were reportedly sent around the world to publicize the province.
In 1932, Southwell was commissioned to paint murals in the rotunda of the Parliament Buildings depicting scenes from B.C.’s history from 1792 to 1843. The work was completed, however; decades later, controversy arose over the depiction of the West Coast First Nations peoples in the murals, which was considered to be demeaning. It was agreed to have the murals restored and hidden from public view behind false walls after restoration.
He exhibited at the Vancouver Exhibition in 1926 and 1930. He exhibited with the Island Arts and Crafts Society from 1931 to 1936, and in the 1923, and 1929 B.C. Society of Fine Arts exhibitions. Much later he showed work in the 1945 B.C. Artists exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Southwell died in Garden Bay, on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver at the age of 95.
