PROVENANCE
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Canadian Art, Joyner / Waddingtons, November 28, 2006, lot 63
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Hugues de Jouvancourt, Cornelius Krieghoff, 1971, titled as Indian Hunters, reproduced page 10

Cornelius Krieghoff’s composition clearly shows three Indigenous hunters traversing a winter landscape. All the figures wear a colourful woven ceinture fléchée at their waists and travel on snowshoes. The two leading figures each carry rifles on their shoulders. The third man’s rifle rests on the sled that he pulls. The men are wrapped warmly against the cold, and care has been taken to precisely illustrate their costumes and weapons.

The three figures appear in the centre of the image, which Krieghoff has flooded with light. These Indigenous hunters are not, however, the main subjects of the painting. Krieghoff’s real interest, as he works in his studio, is the majesty of nature rather than the doings of man. One cannot help but be struck by how small these hunters are within the expanse of the landscape. The attention Krieghoff has paid to the rocks and bare trees at the right side is notable, and he seems to have devoted as much attention to painting the small evergreen in the centre of the composition as he has to the three figures.

The pattern of sunlight and shadow on the snow is more compelling than the details of the Indigenous men’s clothing. The complexities of light in this image are striking—brilliant sunshine and the bright orange sky, which intimates the sun setting. The clouds, touched by sunlight, scud across the sky, suggesting more movement than the walking figures. Again, while Krieghoff has been careful to ensure that the figures are highlighted within the sunlit landscape, the drama lies not with them but in the natural world. Look at the variety of trees, both deciduous and coniferous, the drama of the sky, and the remarkable array of trees and rocks in the right foreground. Krieghoff obviously appreciates the richness and variety of the natural world and has been eager to represent it in this work. The fact that he had to create or recall this natural world in his studio rather than painting it directly makes this image that much more interesting. It is the natural world, but the world as conjured by Krieghoff in his studio. That his images have so deeply defined our understanding of nineteenth-century Canada is a mark of his importance in the history of painting in Canada.

For the biography on Torben V. Kristiansen in PDF format, please click here.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars