↗ View this article in the original PDF newsletter
by Carl Benn, PhD, Chief Curator, City of Toronto Museums and Heritage Services Much of our understanding of Fort York comes from artworks produced in the past. For instance, they often capture architectural and landscaping details, which provide information that cannot be gleaned from written documents, archaeological research, and material culture studies. Thus they form part of the matrix of sources we use to enhance our appreciation of the fort’s story. One such image is a watercolour of the east end of the fort, donated to the old Toronto Historical Board in the 1960s by someone whose ancestors had connections to the British army. However, the link between the donor’s family and the artist – H.R. Smith – is not clear, so we need to do more research on who Smith was and whether he or she had a military connection.
of Toronto from the Staff at the Fort especially for the pre-camera era where we have nothing to compare to artists’ impressions – because we can see how an artist romanticizes, shortens distances, and makes other adjustments in creating an image. Thus this watercolour and the photograph serve as warnings on how documentary art, like written and other sources, has its limitations, as well as its possibilities, in telling us about Fort York’s past. This appealing watercolour (complete with a contentedlooking cow), never has been illustrated before. Therefore, we plan to put it in the new guidebook for Fort York, which will come out later in 2006. In that publication H.R. Smith’s watercolour will represent a pleasing contrast to the presentation of the 1885 photograph in our ‘big’ history of the site, Historic Fort York, 1793-1993, published at the time of the fort’s bicentennial thirteen years ago.
The watercolour probably was an amateur effort, but was executed skilfully, and retains its freshness and deep colours because it has not been exposed to much light. Although the exact age of the picture is uncertain, a photograph of the east gate from 1885 helps us place the watercolour chronologically. The photo clearly is earlier because it includes more of the upright palisades from the refortification of the site during the Anglo-American tensions of the 1860s than does H.R. Smith’s interpretation. Yet, the rest of the details are similar enough to imply that the watercolour could not be much later because, if many years had passed since 1885, the wooden fencing and other features would have deteriorated more than is visible in the watercolour. It also does not show changes introduced to the area in 1898, so it likely post-dates 1885 by a few years but pre-dates 1898.
News From
Photograph of the east end of Fort York, 1885, Toronto Public Library, T-11637.
Original printed pages
