September 3, 1810
On this day celebrated and controversial artist Paul Kane was born in Mallow, Ireland. He would come under the spell of one of America’s most renowned frontier painters, George Catlin.
Despite his foreign birth, he immigrated at an early age to York, modern-day Toronto. Canada now claims him as a native son. In his early twenties, Kane worked at the F.S. Clench Furniture Factory as a decorative painter. Moonlighting as a portrait painter, he was largely self-taught. Unable to afford a “proper” art education, he traveled to Europe at age 31, toured Italy, France and England, studying the masters and copying their work.
It was a portentous trip. While in London in 1841 he met renowned George Catlin (right, portrait by William Fisk) on tour promoting his book, “Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians.” Catlin had spent eight years on the frontier and argued persuasively to Kane that the cultures of the continent’s native people were disappearing.
Returning from Europe, Kane spent two years as a portrait painter in Mobile, Alabama, to pay off the debts he had incurred from his trip. Moving back to Toronto in late 1844, he began preparing for a trip to the West.
Kane struck out on his own June 17, 1845, and spent the summer sketching along the Great Lakes. He planned to venture further west but reaching Sault Ste Marie, John Ballenden, an experienced officer in the Hudson Bay Company, convinced him the hazards were too great.
Wintering back in Toronto, he set out the following Spring, this time with members of Hudson Bay.
“Mount St. Helens Erupting at Night”
He spent the next winter among the tribes of the Oregon Territory, sketching for three weeks in the Willamette Valley among the Nes Percé and in 1847 with the Native Americans living near Mount Saint Helens. One of his later paintings shows a nighttime eruption of Mount Saint Helen, the only known image of an active Cascade volcano to appear before 1914. Critics claimed, however, the mountain had not actually erupted during the time of Kane’s visit. His depiction, however, does correctly show the eruptions at the side rather than the crest of the volcano.
In mid-July he detoured to visit the Whitman Mission near Walla Walla. Founded by Dr. Marcus Whitman (right) and his wife Narcissa, the couple and 11 others were massacred by members of the Cayuse and Umatilla tribes just five and a half months later, on November 29. Accused by the Cayuse of poisioning 200 tribal members in their care, historians found it was actually a deadly measles epidemic.
After five years on the frontier, Kane settled in Toronto, married the daughter of his former employer, F. S. Clench in 1853 and exhibited 260 of his sketches to great acclaim.
Over time Kane produced more than 100 oil canvases based on his 700 Western sketches. But he became controversial in art and academic circles as a result.
One critic wrote of Kane,”[He] was a recorder in the field and an artist in the studio.” Embellishing his original drawings in formal European conventions, according to his detractors, made his work historically inaccurate. While Kane made a sincere attempt to capture the lifestyles of North America’s indigenous people in his sketches, his studio enhancements made him wealthy and famous.
Painting, “Encampment” and the original sketch
Still Kane is credited with being the first artist to provide a glimpse into the vast wilderness of the continent’s Pacific coast.
Forced into retirement by progressive blindness in his 40s, Kane became increasingly reclusive in his later years. He died in Toronto on February 20, 1871, after returning home from his daily walk, He was 61.
On the 100th anniversary of his death, Canada issued a commemorative stamp in his honor based on the Indian Encampment on Lake Huron. And in 2002, Kane’s “Scene in the Northwest: Portrait of John Lefroy” sold for more than $4 million, the highest price ever paid for the work of a Canadian painter at that time.
“Scene in the Northwest: Portrait of John Lefroy”
Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Canada, while not western in locale, it is home to Paul Kane’s famous “Scene in the Northwest: Portrait of John Lefroy.” The museum’s nine galleries, library and archives run the gamut from Kane and other Canadian artists, indigenous works from three continents to contemporary sculpture and photography. In addition, visitors can choose to dine at three locations; AGO’s daytime cafe, the espresso bar and the all-day bistro.
Open 10:30 to 5, Tuesday and Thursday; 10:30 to 9, Wednesday and Friday and 10:30 to 5:30, Saturday and Sunday. Closed Mondays and major Canadian holidays. For restaurant hours, admission to events and other visitor information go to ago.ca or call 1-877-225-4246 or (416) 979-6648.
© Text Only – 2018 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.
♦ Head On West strives for historic accuracy and relies on a number of sources considered reliable. When research differs on significant facts, the various points of view will be cited.