In 1887, thanks to the Canadian Pacific Railway passes offered to artists by William Cornelius Van Horne, Bell-Smith had the opportunity to realize one of his old dreams: to see the Rockies. It was a great moment: from then on, it is said, he felt that the mountains “beckoned to the subjugated pilgrim to [come] to explore their enigmas and their sanctuaries”. He would visit the Rockies at least 11 times over the next 30 years and produce multiple mountain landscapes, including The silent sentinel of the north, Heart of the Selkirks, and An ice-crowned monarch of the Rockies. Like other painters of the late 19th century, Bell-Smith presented his subjects in such a way as to evoke the same kind of emotions as narrative fiction. He worked mostly in watercolors and oils. A popular and prolific artist, he had a predilection for small formats that were easy to sell and intended to embellish bourgeois homes.

- excerpt from the Biographical Dictionary of Canada; http://www.biographi.ca/fr/bio/bell_smith_frederic_marlett_15E.html