GUEST EXHIBITION of
Frederick Richardson's Paintings

English landscape and figure painter
active in Napanee and Belleville 1864-1913

Opening Reception
Tuesday, February 21, 2pm-7pm
Curator's introduction 3pm & 6pm

Frederick Richardson’s Paintings on display until April 28

During Heritage Week 2012, the Lennox and Addington County Museum, Napanee, will open a guest exhibit of the works of English born landscape artist, Frederick Richardson, active in Napanee and Belleville from 1864-1913. A public reception will be held Tuesday February 21 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m..  Fourteen works, including two large oils and twelve watercolours will give viewers a glimpse into the idyllic world of late nineteenth century artists. Richardson’s paintings followed the style and technique of the British landscape artists of the late 19th century.  These artists rejected their modern industrialized world and focused on landscapes in a poetic manner. Their works provided a romantic look at the landscape as a “source of timeless values which could be enjoyed by anyone.” (Tate Britain) Richardson’s artworks reflect the idyllic landscape style in the Bay of Quinte area.   The Richardson exhibit will continue at the Lennox and Addington County Museum, Napanee, until April 28.

Frederick Richardson was born in 1829 at St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.  In 1850, 21 year old Frederick Richardson, a painter, was living in the United States, with the family of Jonathan and Ann Powell.  By 1860, Frederick and Sarah Richardson and their children, Frederick S. and Eugene, were living in Rochester Ward, Monroe, New York where Frederick worked as an “ornamental painter”. 

By 1864, Frederick and his family had located to Napanee, Canada West.  Frederick purchased property on the south side of Bridge Street between Robert and West Street,  and another lot on the north side,  from James and John Cartwright.   On the 1866 Napanee Assessment Roll,  8 people were living at this location.  Richardson was listed as a carriage painter.  On the 1871 Census, Frederick and Sarah and children Frederick S., Eugene Ed, Gertrude and Ida, along with Lizzie Woods, a domestic, were living here.

In the 1871 Ontario Directory he is listed as a painter and photographer, operating a photo gallery above the store of George Dunning on the south side of Dundas.

Richardson first described himself as an artist in 1876.  In 1881, Frederick, his wife Sarah, son Eugene and daughters Gertrude and Ida, located to Belleville where he opened a studio on Campbell Street. His son, Frederick Samuel, who had married Hattie Daly, daughter of Edward Daly, tea merchant in 1878, remained in Napanee.

In the 1885, Belleville Directory, he is listed as a fresco painter with his son, Eugene, as a painter.  An ad placed in Morrey’s Directory in 1889, described Richardson  as “an artist, landscape, figure and fresco painter, and a teacher in these branches”. His studio was on the 2nd floor of the “Metropolitan Block”.

Frederick Richardson exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists 1894-1904 and the Royal Canadian Academy 1880 – 1895.  In 1891, Frederick Richardson exhibited, “Animal Subject” in a show at the Toronto Art Gallery sponsored by the Most Honourable Marquis of Lorne and Her Royal Highness Princess Louise, His Excellency Lord Stanley and His Excellency the Marquis of Landsdowne. 

In 1898, Frederick and his wife sold their Napanee home to son F.S. Richardson.  After the death of Sarah Richardson in 1907, Frederick returned to Napanee to live with his son. He passed away October 8, 1913, in his 84th year, at the residence of his son, F.S. Richardson, Napanee.  He was remembered as “very smart and active, a familiar figure on the streets of Napanee”.  The funeral was under Masonic direction with burial at Riverside Cemetery.