George Henry AndrewsGeorge Henry Andrews (1816 - 1898)
During the whole of the afternoon, and in fact during the whole day,
the entire front of the city was crowded with persons, to catch the
first glimpse of the Hero. At two o’clock, a huge black mass of smoke
appeared directly over Point Levi, it was surmised that it must be from
the royal vessels’ funnels, and in this the people were not mistaken…
Then came the thundering and deafening royal salutes from the three
men-of-war, from the Citadel, the Durham Terrace, and the Grand
Battery. (The guns of the latter had not been fired for thirty or
fourty years previously.) What a noise! It fairly shook Quebec again
and again.
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Prince
of Whales (Edward VII)
visit in 1860 By George Henry
Andrews. Watercolour signed G.H. Andrews,
with gold Royal Navy Artist seal lower left. Size in inches: 30h x 51w
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George Henry Andrews was a professional engineer, marine painter,
water-colourist and illustrator. Born in Britain in 1816, he began
exhibiting in 1840 and was elected a member of the Old Watercolour
Society in 1856. Later he became the Royal Navy Artist and in 1860, at
the peak of his career, he accompanied the Prince of Wales (who became
Edward VII) on a tour of Canada.
This large-format watercolour by Andrews showing the prince's ship, the
Hero, entering Quebec City was aquainted by Uno Langmann Limited in
Vancouver after it surfaced in a collection in Eastern Canada. The
work, estimated to be worth between $200,000 and $300,000, was
subsequently sold and now resides in a permanent collection in Canada.
"You can't really put a value on something like this — it is absolutely
priceless," says Langmann, whose gallery specializes in European and
North American paintings from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
"To have this kind of watercolour of a Canadian scene from the 1860s —
there is nothing else like it."
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