PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver
By descent to the present Private Collection, Connecticut

LITERATURE
Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff: Pioneer Painter of North America, 1934, a similar sleigh depicted in the work titled Winter Landscape, 1849, collection of the National Gallery of Canada, reproduced facing page 30
Hugues de Jouvancourt, Cornelius Krieghoff, 1971, a similar work titled The Trip to Town reproduced page 9
Dennis Reid, Krieghoff: Images of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1999, a similar sleigh depicted in the work titled Sleigh Race on the St. Lawrence at Quebec, 1852, in the Thomson Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, reproduced page 22

Although Cornelius David Krieghoff trained in his native Germany, his emergence as an artist occurred following his immigration to North America. After some time in the United States, he was in what is now Canada from 1846. His paintings have helped define the nature of life in early Canada, particularly rural Quebec, for subsequent generations. Krieghoff’s work, as in Going to Town, vividly describes the lives and culture of pre-Confederation Canadiens. Their lives were dominated by both the vast expanse of the northern landscape and the vagaries of weather.

In this painting, Krieghoff portrays the commencement of a journey into town (likely either Montreal or Quebec City). The travelers leave their lonely cottage (seen at the right of the composition) on a wood sleigh pulled by a handsomely delineated horse. The enormous isolation of living in the countryside of nineteenth-century Canada is well conveyed by Krieghoff’s depiction of the snow-shrouded cabin, vast sky and expansive terrain. These travelers are lucky that the weather, for their trip through the snow-laden landscape, is clear.

Krieghoff has carefully rendered the sleigh and its occupants and also paid close attention to the horse’s harness. The blinders, which keep the horse’s attention ahead, are closely observed as are the bells, which ensure that people and animals know the sleigh is approaching. Krieghoff has also meticulously painted the four men who occupy the sleigh—the driver, whip in hand, his companion to his left enjoying a pipe of tobacco, and the two men behind them in conversation. The details of costume and posture give the image an intense immediacy. The speed of their passage is suggested by the mane and legs of the horse and by the snow thrown up by the horse’s hooves onto the front of the sleigh. Movement is further implied by the fact that one of the men is holding onto his hat. A lively and compelling image, Going to Town demonstrates why Krieghoff is one of Canada’s most important nineteenth-century artists.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars