Gardiner Houlgate
Lot 581
Mary Alexandra Bell (1864-1951) - Children fishing in a sunlit landscape, signed, also inscribed on the reverse of the frame 'M.A.Bell, St. Ives Cornwall, Exhibited at Royal Academy '1896, £21', possibly the picture titled 'A Summers Day', oil on canvas, 20" x 24" *Sold together with copies of information from the Royal Academy of Arts and the Victoria and Albert Museum **The artist married the painter Charles H.Eastlake, circa 1897. Originally from Canada, she was born in Douglas, Ontario and studied in Montreal with Robert Harris as well as in New York at the Art Students League with William Chase. She was commissioned to paint a number of works for American patrons in New York. She travelled to England in 1890 and Paris in 1891, settling in St. Ives where she met and married the painter Charles Herbert Eastlake (fl. 1889-1927) where they became designers and jewellery makers, as well as continuing to paint and exhibit. She travelled extensively in Europe and Asia, returning to Canada in 1939, she was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy resigning after her marriage, she was also a member of the pastel society of London, the Women's International Art Club, and the Boston Water-Colour Society. She exhibited prolifically in both Canada, America and at the Royal Academy in London.
