Looking Down Piccadilly, London, 1920 was created late in Bell-Smith’s career and returns the viewer to the city of his birth. Executed in watercolour on paper and protected by museum glass, the work measures 10.125 x 6.875 inches and is signed on the bottom right. With delicate washes and precise draftsmanship, Bell-Smith records the architecture and bustle of one of London’s busiest streets. Though landscapes were his dominant subject, urban views like this reveal his versatility and his ability to capture atmosphere beyond the Canadian wilderness.

Born in London, England in 1846, Bell-Smith studied first under his father, John Bell-Smith, before continuing at the South Kensington School of Art. At 21, in 1867, he immigrated with his family to Canada in the year of Confederation. He quickly established himself as both artist and educator, teaching at the Toronto Normal School — a teacher training institution whose cultural collections later became part of the Royal Ontario Museum and OCAD University — and at the Ontario School of Art. He later served as principal of the Alma College School of Art in London, Ontario, one of the province’s foremost women’s colleges. Among his students was J.E.H. MacDonald, who went on to become a founding member of the Group of Seven.

Bell-Smith’s paintings reflect both his English training and his admiration for the Canadian landscape, while works such as Looking Down Piccadilly remind us of his broader artistic reach. His Rocky Mountain canvases remain landmarks in Canadian art, yet his city scenes show a painter equally attuned to human settings and architectural form. In bridging British and Canadian subjects, Bell-Smith shaped an artistic legacy that connects old-world traditions with the evolving identity of a new nation.