Homer Watson et "The pioneer mill"

Homer Ransford Watson's "The pioneer mill" was featured in the 1880 inaugural exhibition of the Canadian Academy of Arts. Watson, then 25, was almost entirely self-taught and had previously lived in the small Ontario town of Doon. "The pioneer mill" is a large painting of a small abandoned sawmill powered by a water wheel, and was purchased at the show by the Marquis of Lorne as a gift for his mother-in-law, Queen Victoria.