Charles Walter Simpson, King Street, St. John, N.B., 1933 presents a lively urban view looking down one of Saint John’s principal commercial thoroughfares at a moment when streetcars, automobiles, and pedestrians shared the roadway. Simpson structures the composition with strong linear perspective, using the tram tracks to draw the eye into the distance and organise the bustle of traffic and figures along both sides of the street. Two streetcars occupy the centre of the scene, their warm tones standing out against the pale roadway and softly washed sky.

The flanking buildings are described with crisp, architectural linework softened by translucent watercolour washes, suggesting shopfronts, awnings, and upper-storey windows without heavy detail. Early automobiles—boxy sedans and delivery vehicles—reinforce an interwar date, while loosely sketched pedestrians animate the sidewalks and crossings. A restrained palette of ochres, browns, greys, and muted blues allows structure and movement to take precedence, resulting in a cityscape that feels observed in motion rather than formally staged.