Frederick Marlett Bell-Smith
 Painter Federic Marlett Bell-Smith immigrated to Montreal in 1866 and is particularly known and of interest to our collections as a member of the “railway school.” These artists, including Thomas Mower Martin, Marmaduke Matthews, and John Hammond among others, travelled west from centres such as Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa to work
from the railway lines in the late 1880’s. Their images were used in advertisements, as hotel decoration, and as general promotion for the railways.
This little watercolour, which clearly depicts the classic view towards the falls at Lake O’Hara, Yoho National Park, is a small on-the-spot or “pleinair” sketch most likely done in preparation for a larger work and is an exciting addition to our permanent collection.
On the Trail of Aleen Aked
 The delightful discovery of the art of Aleen Aked is one of the perks of working in a museum. Although Aked is well known in eastern Canada, her work is almost unheard of in the west. Born in England in 1907, she settled with her parents in Ontario in 1910, the only child of a prosperous family. In 1920 she won a scholarship at the Ontario College of Art and would complete a degree with honours in still life, costume, and painting in 1928. Aked’s teachers included Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley, A. Y. Jackson, J. E. H. MacDonald, George A. Reid, Yvonne McKague, and J. W. Beatty. The influence of Beatty’s brushwork in particularcan be seen in much of Aked’s painting. As well as notable teachers, Aked associated with fellow students Doris McCarthy and Isabel McLaughlin who went on to build distinguished artistic careers.
 Of significant interest to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is the trip west to Banff that Aleen took with her parents in 1939. Documented in a photographic album recently purchased at auction, we now have a detailed record of this trip. The album is an historian’s delight, showing Aked on a typical holiday in the west, with snips from the local papers, photographs of Indian Days and other ‘touristy’ fare. A photograph of Aleen and her mother Margaret at Lake Louise is pasted into the album. On the easel in between them rests a painting of the lake. By coincidence, this work was also recently acquired by the Whyte. This is a rare instance where we have evidence of the work in progress painted on location and own the work itself. Additionally two other Rockies paintings by Aked have been gifted to the museum, one by Canadian Art Gallery (Canmore) and the other by The Collector’s Gallery (Calgary) since the purchase of the first work. These significant and welcome gifts are presently on view in the galleries.
Discovering the work of Aleen Aked has been a delightful journey that will continue for the Whyte Museum, as we know she painted other works while in the Rockies. Stoney Indians in the Rockies, and Mt. Rundle’s Peaks are just two titles that appear in old catalogue records. With the dispersal of her
estate, which followed her death last year, it is expected that more will eventually come to light.
– Lisa Christensen, Curator Of Art |
