. Beatty was born on May 30, 1869, and went to school in Toronto, Ontario. He was a member of the volunteers who served in the
North-West Rebellion in 1885, then worked in the Toronto Fire Department (1869–1900). In his leisure time, he studied art with
George Agnew Reid and other teachers. In 1900, he studied at the
Académie Julian in Paris with
Jean-Paul Laurens and
Benjamin Constant. He travelled throughout Europe from 1906 to 1909, painted at the
Académie Julian and
Académie Colarossi, and travelled to London where he attended the London Chelsea Polytechnic. He made trips to Holland, Belgium and other places to sketch and worked up the sketches when he returned home into many dark, rich, moody paintings of Dutch peasant life and other subjects. From 1912 to 1941, he worked at the
Ontario College of Art. Beatty felt that this work represented Canada much better than his previous work called
A Dutch Peasant, so he asked the National Gallery if they would exchange the two because, as he explained, "I am a Canadian. I would much rather be represented by a Canadian picture."
The Evening Cloud of the Northland is considered a masterpiece and is in the collection of the
National Gallery of Canada. ==Influences==