Frederick Walter Lee, RMS (1863-1948)
Frederick Walter Lee was a painter in oil and watercolour of meticulous architectural views, landscapes and miniature portraits. In 1899, he relinquished a burgeoning career in London, and migrated to Canada. From 1904 until his death, he lived in British Columbia, where he produced restrained, beautifully observed landscapes, including some in a striking panoramic format.
Frederick Walter Lee was born in England on 8 October 1863. At the age of 19, he ran away from home to study art, and attended the National Art Training School, South Kensington, London. By the mid 1890s, he was making a name for himself as a painter of architectural scenes and miniature portraits, both in watercolour, and exhibited two of the portraits at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Apparently, he came to the attention of Queen Victoria, and was invited to make sketches of Buckingham Palace. Certainly, he produced detailed watercolours of royal and other palaces, including Kensington Palace (1895), St James’s Palace (1895, as seen here) and Lambeth Palace (1898). In 1897, he was elected a member of the Society of Miniature Painters.
In 1899, Lee migrated to Canada, and initially settled in Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan. In that and the following years, he exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. When a fire destroyed almost all his possessions, he made a year-long trek across Canada and the United States, in a horse and cart, stopping to camp, paint and take photographs.
In 1904, Lee settled in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Apart for brief sojourn in Vancouver in 1919, this would remain his home for the rest of his life. Before he went to Vancouver, he lived in a small cabin at 747 De Wolfe Avenue (now 46719 Portage Avenue). On his return, he settled at 106 Second Avenue (now 46122 Second Avenue). He supported himself by teaching lessons in drawing and painting, and also working at the Wilson Photography Studio, which sold his photographs. In addition to painting and photography, he showed talents for poetry and music, and composed music for guitar.
Lee was designated a ‘British Columbia Artist’ in 1921 and was briefly a member of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts, in 1921-22. He seems to have ceased working by 1941, and died in Chilliwack on 2 February 1948.
His work is represented in the collections of Chilliwack Museum and Archives, Chilliwack (British Columbia) and the Royal BC Museum, Victoria (British Columbia).
Further reading:
Tristan Evans, ‘Frederick Walter Lee: The Life of a Painter, Teacher, Photographer, Poet, Musician and Activist’, Chilliwack Museum and Archives Blog, 2018
