Edward Scrope Shrapnel

1845 1920

English-born Canadian artist

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.

Works