O-438
•
painting (portrait)
•
The Honourable Robert Franklin Sutherland

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painting (portrait)

Specifications

Artists	John Wycliffe Lowes Forster (Artist)
Date	1906
Signature	J W L Forster *
Inscriptions	HON. L'HON. R.F. SUTHERLAND 1905-1908 Mackenzie & co. feb. 1906
Materials	paint, oil
Support	canvas
Personal Names	Robert Franklin Sutherland (House of Commons)
Dimensions (cm)	141.0 (Width) • 179.0 (Height)
Functions	Art

Portrait of Speaker Robert Franklin Sutherland

Robert Franklin Sutherland has the historic distinction of having been the first anglophone member of Parliament to deliver a part of his acceptance speech in French.

He was born in Newmarket, Ontario in 1859, became a lawyer, and was elected to Parliament in Essex North in 1900. He was made Speaker in 1905 and won praise from all sides of the House for his fair and impartial performance. He declined to serve a second term in the chair, but he was re-elected to Parliament for three terms. He died in 1922, and his portrait was painted by John Wycliffe Lowes Forster c. 1906.

J.W.L. Forster

J.W.L. Forster’s catalogue includes official portraits of Prime Ministers John Thompson and Alexander Mackenzie, unofficial portraits of other Prime Ministers, and recognizable names from Canadian history such as Bell, Eaton, Wolfe, Simcoe and Brock. He also did portraits of Queen Victoria, and the emperor and empress of Japan.

Forster was born in Norval, Ontario in 1850, studied in Toronto, London and Paris, then established a studio on King Street in Toronto in 1883. His painting “Departure of Canada’s First Contingent for South Africa, 1899,” was destroyed in the fire at Parliament in 1916, but his official portraits of Prime Ministers survived.

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