| J. W. L. Forster | |
| Birth Place: | Norval, Canada West |
| Death Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Field: | portrait and landscape painter |
| Training: | studied in Toronto with J. W. Bridgman; Académie Julian, Paris, with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger (1880-1882); Tony Robert-Fleury and William-Adolphe Bouguereau; and later with Carolus Duran |
| Works: | portrait of James Whiteside, Toronto |
J. W. L. Forster or, more formally, John Wycliffe Lowes Forster (31 December 1850 - 24 April 1938) was a Canadian artist specializing in portraits. Many of his works can be found at the National Gallery of Canada.
In Toronto in 1869, he started his art education as a student of portrait painter John Wesley Bridgman (1833–1902). For his portrait of Bridgman, he won first place in the amateur division at the Upper Canada Agricultural Society's annual fair in 1871. In 1879 Forster studied for three months at the South Kensington Art School in London with Canadian landscape painter Charles Stuart Millard (1837-1917). After that, he attended the Académie Julian in Paris, studying with Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger (1880-1882); Tony Robert-Fleury and William-Adolphe Bouguereau; and later, with Carolus Duran.[1]
He returned to Toronto in 1883 and was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[2] Among his writings are 2 volumes of autobiography and a survey of early Ontario artists.[3]
| Title/subject | Artist | Date created | >Medium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Mackenzie | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | 1897 | Oil on canvas | |
| John Sparrow David Thompson | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | 1897 | Oil on canvas | |
| Robert Franklin Sutherland | John Wycliffe Lowes Forster | circa 1906 | Oil on canvas |