Thomas Shortliffe
Cornelius Krieghoff or Paul Kane : Who is the More Canadian Artist ?
This question is odd because neither was born in Canada. It also hints that we are sometimes motivated to graft nationalistic intentions onto artwork, which are not necessarily those of the artists themselves.1 Gérard Morisset2 thought Krieghoff was biased against his
French Canadian habitant subject matter while Newton MacTavish considered him a "pioneer" of Canadian art.3 There is no agreement as to whether Krieghoff was either of those things4.
Nonetheless, we will demonstrate that it is possible to glean something of the intentions of these artists through an analysis of their work.
Art historians and the interested public look for a deeper meaning and construct more personal connections with art by examining artist's' biographies and social contexts. In what follows, we will compare and contrast Kane’s « Mah-Min » (1848) with Krieghoff’s « Indian
Family in the Forest » (1851) to determine how the distinctly Canadian experiences of each painter inform our understanding of their work. Specifically, we will advance that each man's unique way of representing Native subject matter was influenced by the particular kind of experience he had with Native people.
Kane’s portrait is most expressive. While there is great precision of detail, strokes appear bolder, less tight, making ample use of wider flat and filbert brushes. The colours are more muted, there is less use of glazing and the resulting surface has a finish, which is notably more matte than that of Krieghoff’s pieces5. The impression is that the artist is painting more quickly and is more focussed on the transcending character and soul of his subject.6
Mah-Min stands front and center of the frame, in three quarter head view. His gaze is slightly to our left. We have the impression of standing in the presence of an archetypal wise warrior, or what Gehmacher has referred to as the “noble savage”.7 Though he is approximately life-sized in the portrait, he appears larger than life because he is painted on a backdrop of mostly
sky. This places the viewer slightly lower in relation to the Chief. There can be no mistaking the importance of the man in the eyes of the painter.
In contrast to Kane's piece, one of the most striking characteristics of "The Indian Family in the Forest" is the small scale. Krieghoff makes proficient use of glazing to render depth of field, richness of tone and the precision of detail evident in the millimetre wide hairs on the heads of the Indian family. Though one of the smallest pieces on display in the entire Claire and
Marc Bourgie pavilion, the detail is remarkable and hints at formal arts training. One forgets the small size of the piece because Krieghoff manages to convey a vast landscape. Thes figures appear slightly lower than the viewer, who is himself, far away and above.
The impression is that we are observing a family at such great distance that they would not be aware of our presence8. If they turned to look, would they find us an intrusion? There is a sensation of otherness in relation to them and this situates us in a position of voyeur. Through the subtle and repeated layering of highlights and shadows, warmth of tone and surface gloss the viewer is invited to stare further into a private moment.
The contrast of scale alone makes us wonder about the different kinds of relationships each artist might have had with the subject matter of his portrait. In particular: "Why did Kane present Mah-Min practically bursting out of the frame?" and "Why did Krieghoff place his
Native subjects so far away from us?" We know that Krieghoff served as a war painter in the U.S army for 3 years, stationed close to the ongoing conflict with the Seminoles.9 He wore the uniform of their colonizing oppressor and one wonders if this early relationship with Indigenous
People can help to explain the distance one feels when observing his Indian family in the forest?
In contrast, Mah-Min occupies about 70% of the pictorial space and this communicates strong presence to the viewer. We know from Kane's journal that he was more closely embedded
with the Native tribes on his journey across Western Canada.10 Kane had deep admiration for the
Natives he represented in his portraits and expressed concern about their disappearance.11
Kane pays great attention to ethnographic details such as the traditional beadwork, necklace and attire. A museum caption next to the painting, informs us that this contributes to a more authentic representation of the lived reality of First Nations people, when compared with the relatively "pitturesque" approach of Krieghoff (figure 3). In contrast to this view however,
Ghemacher points out that there are "blatant ethnological inaccuracies" throughout Kane's romanticized portraits of First Nations people12. Whatever can be said of these inaccuracies, the romanticized style alone demonstrates his admiration for the Native figures in his paintings.
We began by asking if the analyzing the works of each artist could help enrich our understanding of their motivations. Alternatively, did the life experiences of each painter leave traces traces in their work? We can see that Cornelius Krieghoff's depiction of Native subject matter was quite different from that of Paul Kane and that these differences could be associated with the unique biographical context in which each man lived. Specifically, the impression of closeness to Mah-Min in the painting transposes an affective closeness, which Kane is known to have felt for Native people. In contrast, the distance felt by the viewer looking at Krieghoff's
"Indian Family in the Forest" appears indicative of the relative emotional distance, which the painter may have felt in his rapport with Native people. Thus, the personal experiences of these artists appear to be reflected in their work. An interesting exercise for further reflection might be to ask if the unique experiences of particular art historians could be shown to impact their interpretations of art.
Figure 1. Paul Kane, Mah-Min, 1848, oil on canvas, 76 x 63,3 cm.
Figure 2. "Indian Family in the Forest", 1851, oil on canvas, 44.7 x 66.6 cm.
Figure 3. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts caption for the painting "Mah-Min"
NOTES
1 In her article: "To Better Know Ourselves: J. Russell Harper's “Painting in Canada: A
2 Cited in Whitelaw, Anne. 2005. "To Better Know Ourselves: J. Russell Harper's “Painting in Canada: A History”. Journal Of Canadian Art History 26, 8-33. Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 1, 2016).
3 Cited in Gagnon, Francois-Marc, "Perceiving the Other: French Canadian and Indian Iconography" in the work of Cornelius Krieghoff," in Reid, Dennis, Kriegl101f/Images of Canada.Vancouver, Toronto and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999.
4 In "Perceiving the Other: French Canadian and Indian Iconography", Francois-Marc Gagnon presents that Morisset was not in agreement with the prevailing view of McTavish that Krieghoff was a pioneer of art in Canada. Morisset appears to have actually felt the painter was biased against representing his French Canadian Habitant subject matter in a positive light. By asking the question: "L'Art Canadien Commence-t-il avec Krieghoff" François-Marc Gagnon is suggesting that the place of Krieghoff in the history of Canada's art can be a contentious issue for art historians.
5 The relatively matte finish of Kane's work might also be due to deterioration of varnish over time if exposed to a heat source such as a fireplace. For the purposes of this analyses, it is assumed that it is the result of a conscious choice on the part of the painter.
6 Gehmacher, Arlene, ''Paul Kane Life and Work'', retrieved from http://www.aci-iac.ca/content/art-books/23/Art-Canada-Institute_Paul-Kane.pdf p. 49.
7 Gehmacher, Arlene, ''Paul Kane Life and Work'', retrieved from http://www.aci-iac.ca/content/art-books/23/Art-Canada-Institute_Paul-Kane.pdf p. 37.
8 Based on scale, the Krieghoff's Indian family is approximately 30 to 40 feet in the distance while Kane's Mah-Min is at a distance of only a few feet from the viewer.
9 Wikipedia contributors, "Cornelius Krieghoff," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cornelius_Krieghoff&oldid=69156845 4 (accessed January 24, 2016)
10 KANE, Paul. Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North America, from Canada to Vancouver's Island and Oregon, through the Hudson Bay Company's Territory, and Back Again. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1859. Retrieved from: https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=yKwNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output =reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
11 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Extended Text." Admin. Accessed January 30, 2016. https://expositionvirtuelle.ca/multimedia/997-eng.
12 Gehmacher, Arlene, Paul Kane Life and Work, retrieved from http://www.aci-iac.ca/content/art-books/23/Art-Canada-Institute_Paul-Kane.pdf p. 40.
Bibliography
Gagnon, François-Marc. "L'art Canadien Commence-t-il avec Krieghoff?"Journal of Canadian Art History 24 (2003): 8-19.
Gagnon, Francois-Marc, “Perceiving the Other: French-Canadian and Indian Iconography in the Work of Cornelius Krieghoff”, “Krieghoff Images of Canada”, ed. Dennis Reid, Toronto, 1999 p.233
Gehmacher, A. "Paul Kane: Life & Work". Art Canada Institute. 4 Devonshire Place, Toronto, (2014).
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Lacroix, Laurier, Run Krieghoff Cours, Annales d’histoire de l’art canadien, vol. XXIV, n° 1 et 2, 2003, p. 60-71.
MacLaren, I.S. “Paul Kane’s Wanderings of an Artist and the Rise of Transcontinental Canadian Nationalism.” Canadian Literature 213 (Summer 2012): 16–38.
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Wikipedia contributors, "Cornelius Krieghoff," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cornelius_Krieghoff&oldid=6915 68454 (accessed January 24, 2016)
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