Edward Scrope Shrapnel (1845–1920) was an English-born Canadian artist. After an earlier period spent in Quebec, his family settled in Orillia, Ontario. Having learned the basic art of drawing in the military, Shrapnel became adept in watercolour, his preferred medium. In the 1870s, he began contributing works to the Ontario Society of Artists. He was elected as an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1880. After a five-year stint as a drawing teacher for a women's college, he moved west to Victoria, British Columbia. Shrapnel was president of Victoria's first art association. His painting subject matter included landscape, still lifes, and genre, often incorporating scenes from Ontario and British Columbia.
Biography Shrapnel was born on 12 January 1845, in Alverstoke, Hampshire.Bosher 2010, pp. 673, 675. His grandfather was Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the shrapnel shell. His father was Henry Needham Scrope Shrapnel, a military officer with the rank of captain who was variously posted to India, Ireland, and Bermuda. In 1855, Edward's father was assigned to Quebec, his family accompanying him. Here young Edward first cultivated his love of the outdoors.Thompson 1976, p. 158 Carrying on the family tradition, Edward served with the Victoria Rifles of Quebec for seven months in 1865–1866, helping to repel Irish Fenian raids.Bosher 2010, p. 674. As a consequence of his officer training, Shrapnel learned how to draw accurately. After the border tensions eased, the Shrapnel family returned to Salisbury. In 1868, Edward married Edith Mary Neale,Wiltshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1916. Reference Number: 883/22. - via Ancestry.ca. and they eventually had six daughters and one son. The family soon moved back to Canada, this time settling near Orillia, Ontario. Henry Shrapnel was a talented amateur artist, and Edward became proficient in the use of watercolour, which became his favourite medium.Thompson 1976, p. 159. In Ontario, Edward participated each fall in duck and deer hunting, and on occasion engaged in wild pigeon shoots.Thompson 1976, p. 157. His funeral notice described him as an "ardent sportsman".
In 1872, Shrapnel was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, and he contributed works to that organization until 1892. He became an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts when it was formed in 1880. For five years during the 1880s he held the position of drawing master at the Ontario Ladies' College in Whitby.Harper 1970, p. 287. In 1889, one of his paintings of dead game won first prize at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition. Influenced by other artists who had travelled west on the newly opened Canadian Pacific Railway, Shrapnel moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where he spent the rest of his life. Shrapnel served as president of Victoria's first art association. He was a member of the British Campaigners' Association as a result of his Canadian military service, having reached the rank of colonel. In 1890, he contributed 18 paintings to the Vancouver Art Association's first annual exhibition. Shrapnel was the illustrator of Upper Canada Sketches (1898), where his twenty scenes were lithographed in brilliant colour. At the time of his death, several of his works were displayed in the British Columbia Parliament Buildings. He was interred at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria.
Shrapnel's subject matter encompassed landscape, genre, and still life.McKendry 1997, p. 189. His early works often depict the Muskoka region of Ontario, and later of British Columbia. Animals and indigenous peoples figure prominently, and he painted still lifes of fish. Some of his winter landscapes in oil are reminiscent of Cornelius Krieghoff. He eschewed the dramatic and picturesque, managing to avoid the rigid strictures of composition and style as conventionally practiced. Today, Shrapnel is best known for his watercolours of scenes across Canada.
Exhibitions Ontario Society of Artists, 1875–1892 Art Association of Montreal, 1881, 1888McMann 1988, p. 352. Toronto Industrial Exhibition, 1881–1892 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1881, 1884–1889McMann 1981, p. 375. Vancouver Art Association, 1890 Malaspina College, 1988
Collections Royal Ontario MuseumAllodi 1974, no. 1523. Orillia Museum of Art & History Oshawa Museum Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Museum of Vancouver British Columbia Provincial Archives Vancouver Art Gallery
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