Fraser trained in London at the Royal Academy and came to Canada around 1856. He joined William Notman’s photographic firm about 1860 and represented them in Ottawa (1867) becoming a partner in the Toronto firm of Notman and Fraser in 1868. Notman and Fraser employed artists to tint photographs and held art exhibitions at the showrooms. Fraser was a vociferous participant in artistic politics as an initiating founder of the OSA in 1872 and a charter member of the RCA in 1880. A number of young Canadian artists, including Horatio Walker and George Reid, received their earliest training from him while working at Notman and Fraser.

The watercolour is dated a year before Fraser’s departure for the USA in 1883. It is a solid example of his work.