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Tag Archives: Cornelius Krieghoff

Autumn in Orillia & other Canadian Paintings

06 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Canadian art

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Canadian Paintings, Cornelius Krieghoff, Emily Carr, The Group of Seven

Autumn in Orillia by Franklin Carmichael, 1924 (WikiArt.org)

After posting October Gold (1922), I wondered why I did not speak about the Group of Seven. They left an unforgettable heritage. They were active during the 1920s and were based in Toronto. However, they painted Ontario’s north and west. They are also known as the Algonquin School. (See Group of Seven, Wikipedia.)

October Gold by Franklin Carmichael, 1922 (WikiArt.org)
Frederick Varley, A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, Barker Fairley (not a member), Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, and J. E. H. MacDonald. Image ca. 1920, F 1066, Archives of Ontario, I0010313.

—ooo—

Emily Carr

British Columbia artist Emily Carr, who lived in Victoria, has been associated with the Group of Seven. Still, she wasn’t sitting with other group members at a table in a Toronto restaurant. I remember sitting with colleagues at a table in a Toronto restaurant. That conversation, a unique conversation, will never end.

Emily Carr was also part of my life. My husband and I honeymooned on the west coast of Vancouver Island, where she worked. She lived in Victoria, which was home to me for ten years. I thought I would retire in Victoria, but it didn’t happen.

Indian Church by Emily Carr, 1929 (WikiArt.org)
Tree Trunk by Emily Carr, 1932 (WikiArt.org)

—ooo—

Cornelius Krieghoff

Quebec’s most iconic artist is Dutch-born Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 5 March 1872). Krieghoff depicted Quebec’s people, “habitants” and several Amerindians (North American Indians), and the land. Members of the Group of Seven painted nature mostly.

https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artist/cornelius-krieghoff

Cornelius Krieghoffs painting of a wild crowd in front of a mid-19th Century bar in the early hours of the morning.
Breaking up of a countryball in Canada, early morning: a closer look, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1857 (The Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario.)
These are a few words about members of the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, now associated with the Group of Seven. I have also mentioned Cornelius Krieghoff who depicted French Canada.
Off the Road – The Upset Sleigh, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856 (Art Gallery of Ontario.) 
The Woodcutter by Cornelius Krieghoff (Wikimedia Commons)

Conclusion

This post is a mere glimpse of Canada’s artistic heritage. The painters I featured in this post are classics. Krieghoff was born in Holland, but he is a “genre” artist who depicted everyday life in Quebec.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Krieghoff: Winter, “Habitants” & Amerindians (30 December 2013)
  • The Aftermath: Krieghoff’s Quintessential Quebec (29 March 2012)

Love to everyone 💕

Group of Seven
The Jack Pine by Tom Thompson. 1916 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Lawren S. Harris (Pinterest)

© Micheline Walker
5 November 2021
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Alexis de Tocqueville on Lower Canada

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Alexis de Tocqueville, Atlantic Ocean, Canada, Claude Corbo, Cornelius Krieghoff, France, Lower Canada, Tocqueville

  The First Snow  Canadian Homestead, c. 1856 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff)

The First Snow | Canadian  Homestead by Cornelius Krieghoff, c. 1856
(La Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

Scene in the Laurentian, by Cornelius Krieghoff

Winter Scene in the Laurentians by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1867 (La Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

I published this article on 21st December 2013. My next post would be difficult to understand without the information provided in my earlier post and another earlier post.

Alexis de Tocqueville on Bas-Canada (Lower* Canada)

We are still in Lower Canada or Bas-Canada. * “Lower” means down the St. Lawrence river, closer to the Atlantic Ocean.  Our images are by Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 April 1872) who arrived in New York in 1836, immediately after completing his studies. Although Krieghoff had a brother in Toronto, Canada, but he settled in the province of Quebec. 

However, we are also reading excerpts from French political thinker and historian  Alexis de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859), whose two-volume Democracy in America, published in 1835 and 1840, depicts America as it was and, to a large extent, as it has remained: materialistic and much too individualistic.

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont (6 February 1802 – 30 March 1866), a magistrate and prison reformer, had travelled to North America in order to write a report on prisons in America, which they did.

However, Tocqueville’s curiosity led him to the former New France and induced him to discuss slavery in America.  In fact, it is now somewhat difficult to remember that Tocqueville and Beaumont’s mission was to examine the prison system in the New World.  Tocqueville and Beaumont were in Bas-Canada from August 23rd until September 2nd.  It was a short visit, but Tocqueville’s portrayal of Bas-Canada and the dangers confronting it are exceptionally insightful.[i] 

The Toll Gate, by Cornelius Krieghoff

Winter Landscape by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1849 (National Gallery of Canada)

The Ice Bridge at Longueil, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1847-1848 National Gallery of Canada

The Ice Bridge at Longue-Pointe by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1847-1848 (National Gallery of Canada)

Lower Canada or Bas-Canada

« Le Canada pique vivement notre curiosité.  La nation française s’y est conservée intacte : on y a les mœurs et on y parle la langue du siècle de Louis XIV. » (Tocqueville)

“The French nation has been preserved there.  As a result, one can observe the customs and the language spoken during Louis XIV’s reign.” (Note 2)[ii] (Corbo’s translation)

« [I]l n’y a pas six mois, je croyais, comme tout le monde, que le Canada était devenu complètement anglais. » (Tocqueville)

In a letter to his mother, dated 7 September 1831, Tocqueville writes that: “not even six months ago, [he] believed, like everyone else, that Canada had become thoroughly English.” (Corbo’s translation)

« Nous nous sentions comme chez nous, et partout on nous recevait comme des compatriotes, enfants de la vieille France, comme ils l’appellent. À mon avis, l’épithète est mal choisie : la vieille France est au Canada ; la nouvelle est chez nous. » (Note 3)[iii] (Tocqueville)

“We felt like we were at home and everywhere people greeted us as one of their own, as descendants of ‘Old France’ as they called it.  But to me, it seems more like Old France lives on in Canada and that it is our country [France] which is the new one.”  Thus, Tocqueville was surprised by realities he discovered in Canada. Compared to his visits to other foreign countries, the visit to Lower Canada was a brief one. (Note 4) (Tocqueville & Corbo.)

The seigneurial system and Religion

He notes that the seigneurial system is, for the most part, a “formality,” and that Religion is central to the community.

“The seigneurial system, which would last until 1854, is more of a formality than anything else, even though it is a source of irritation for some.  But this does not keep the lands from being properly farmed or from prospering.  Religion is central to the community; the clergy holds an important place and proves to be unquestionably loyal to the British authority.” (Corbo)

The Wealth is under English Control

Even though the peasants are prosperous, the real wealth is in the hands of the country’s Englishmen.  The Mondelet brothers, who [sic] Tocqueville met in Montreal on August 24th, as well as the anonymous English merchant he met on August  26th, reveal to Tocqueville that, “almost all the wealth and commerce is under English control.”  On September 1st, Tocqueville confirms in his notes that “the English have control of all foreign trade and run domestic trade without any opposition.” (Note 7)[iv] (Corbo & Corbo’s translations)

Si les paysans sont prospères, la grande richesse, elle, appartient aux Anglais du pays. Tant les frères Mondelet, rencontrés à Montréal le 24 août, que le marchand anglais anonyme de Québec, le 26 août, indiquent à Tocqueville que « presque toute la richesse et le commerce est dans les mains des Anglais. » (Corbo & others)

Predominance of the English Language & Anglicisms

In both cities, “all the signs [enseignes] are in English and there are only two English theatres.” During his visit to the courthouse in Quebec City, Tocqueville observes the predominance of the English language and the mediocrity of the language of French-speaking lawyers, which is riddled with Anglicisms. (Note 8)[v] (Corbo.)

Tant à Montréal qu’à Québec, la langue anglaise domine dans la vie et sur la place publique:  « La plupart des journaux, les affiches et jusqu’aux enseignes des marchands français sont en anglais. » (Corbo & Tocqueville)

So, on 26 August, having visited the courthouse, Tocqueville comes to the conclusion that the French who live in the former New France are a conquered people and that it is an “irreversible tragedy.”

 Je n’ai jamais été plus convaincu qu’en sortant [de ce tribunal] que le plus grand et le plus irrémédiable malheur pour un peuple c’est d’être conquis.

“I have never been more convinced than after I left the courthouse that the greatest and most irreversible tragedy for a people is to be conquered.” (Note 10)[vi] (Corbo’s translation) 

Indians at Snowy Landscape, by Cornelius Krieghoff, c. 1847-1848 (The National Gallery of Canada)

Indians at Snowy Landscape by Cornelius Krieghoff, c. 1847-1848 (The National Gallery of Canada)

Comments

Having expressed pleasure in finding that New France had become Old France, Tocqueville then fears for the future of the French nation he has visited.  He was right.  The French-Canadian habitant was still prosperous, but there did come a point when the thirty acres could no longer be divided.  In fiction as in history, regionalism died.  In his 1938 Trente Arpents, or Thirty Acres, Ringuet, the pseudonym used by Philippe Panneton, chronicled its passing away in a poignant manner.  The habitant had nowhere to go.  Nearly a million French-Canadians and Acadians left for the United States.

RELATED ARTICLES:

  • Regionalism in Quebec Fiction: Ringuet’s Trente Arpents (part one)
  • Regionalism in Quebec Fiction: Ringuet’s Trente arpents (part two)

“Pour l’amour du bon Dieu ” by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1858 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

Sources and Resources

Tocqueville, Alexis de, Œuvres complètes : œuvres, papiers et correspondances, édition définitive publiée sous la direction de J. P. Mayer, Paris, Gallimard, 1951-2002, 18 tomes en 30 volumes.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998) in Œuvres complètes.

Habitant, by Cornelius Krieghoff (note the ceinture fléchée) (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff)

“Va au Diable” by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1858 (note the ceinture fléchée), (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal) 

Our habitant says “For the love of God,” knocking at his lawyer’s door, and “Go to the Devil,” as he leaves.  He is wearing a hat called une tuque and his ceinture fléchée.

Love to everyone and a Happy New Year ♥
____________________

[i] Claude Corbo, in the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America.  As indicated, Corbo is at times the narrator and, at times, a translator. 

[ii] Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998, p. 105. (Note 2)  

[iii] Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998, p.129. (Note 3)

[iv] Alexis de Tocqueville, Œuvres 1, p. 210. (Note 7)

[v] Œuvres 1, p. 210. (Note 8)

[vi] Alexis de Tocqueville, Œuvres I, p. 205. (Note 10)

The video has been removed.

The Valley of the Cariboo, by Cornelius Krieghoff,

The Valley of the Cariboo by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoof)

© Micheline Walker
31 December 2013
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Cornelius Krieghoff: Encore

05 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canada

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cornelius Krieghoff, dogs, Jerry, The Pets and the Materials

 
The Pets and the, by Cornelius Krieghoff
The Pets and the Materials, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1860 (The National Gallery of Art)

The Pets and the Materials

“This charming painting is unique in Cornelius Krieghoff‘s œuvre. Two spaniels frolic among the remains of what appears to have been a splendid feast, where a group of friends have eaten, drunk and smoked to their heart’s content. Each element is immediately recognizable, which adds to the work’s appeal. The artist gave it as a Christmas gift to his Quebec City friends Anny, Christopher and Robert O’Connor, as a token of his esteem.” (The National Gallery of Art, Canada)

Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 April 1872)

My last two posts have disappeared as I was publishing them.  It’s a loss because of the time I spent constructing these posts, but…

So it occurred to me that you may enjoy looking at two paintings by Krieghoff that differ substantially from the paintings I have used in earlier posts.  They feature dogs.  There are so many dogs in Krieghoff’s paintings that I suspect he always kept a dog.  So did his habitants.  But “The Pets and the Materials” is different and “Jerry” has a name.  He is a pet and Krieghoff has painted his portrait.

Cornelius Krieghoff photographed by M. O. Hammond.
Cornelius Krieghoff photographed by M. O. Hammond (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jerry, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1860 (The National Gallery of Art)

Portrait of Jerry, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1846 (The National Gallery of Art)

Krieghoff: Encore


Jerry

© Micheline Walker
January 5, 2014
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Alexis de Tocqueville on Lower Canada

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Alexis de Tocqueville, Atlantic Ocean, Canada, Claude Corbo, Cornelius Krieghoff, France, Lower Canada, Tocqueville

  The First Snow  Canadian Homestead, c. 1856 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff)

The First Snow or Canadian Homestead by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856
(La Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

Scene in the Laurentian, by Cornelius Krieghoff

Winter Scene in the Laurentians by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1867 (La Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

Alexis de Tocqueville on Bas-Canada (Lower* Canada)

We are still in Lower Canada or Bas-Canada. * “Lower” means down the St. Lawrence river, closer to the Atlantic Ocean. Our images are by Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 April 1872) who arrived in New York in 1836, immediately after completing his studies. Although Krieghoff had a brother in Toronto, Canada, he settled in the province of Quebec. 

However, we are also reading excerpts from French political thinker and historian  Alexis de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859), whose two-volume Democracy in America, published in 1835 and 1840, depicts America as it was and, to a large extent, as it has remained: materialistic and much too individualistic.

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont (6 February 1802 – 30 March 1866), a magistrate and prison reformer, had travelled to North America in order to write a report on prisons in America, which they did.

However, Tocqueville’s curiosity led him to the former New France and induced him to discuss slavery in America. In fact, it is now somewhat difficult to remember that Tocqueville and Beaumont’s mission was to examine the prison system in the New World. Tocqueville and Beaumont were in Bas-Canada from 23 August until 2 September. It was a short visit, but Tocqueville’s portrayal of Bas-Canada and the dangers confronting it are exceptionally insightful.[i] 

The Toll Gate, by Cornelius Krieghoff

Winter Landscape by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1849 (National Gallery of Canada)

The Ice Bridge at Longueil, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1847-1848 National Gallery of Canada

The Ice Bridge at Longue-Pointe by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1847-1848 (National Gallery of Canada)

Lower Canada or Bas-Canada

« Le Canada pique vivement notre curiosité. La nation française s’y est conservée intacte : on y a les mœurs et on y parle la langue du siècle de Louis XIV. » (Tocqueville)

“The French nation has been preserved there. As a result, one can observe the customs and the language spoken during Louis XIV’s reign.” (Note 2)[ii] (Corbo’s translation)

« [I]l n’y a pas six mois, je croyais, comme tout le monde, que le Canada était devenu complètement anglais. » (Tocqueville)

In a letter to his mother, dated 7 September 1831, Tocqueville writes that: “not even six months ago, [he] believed, like everyone else, that Canada had become thoroughly English.” (Corbo’s translation)

« Nous nous sentions comme chez nous, et partout on nous recevait comme des compatriotes, enfants de la vieille France, comme ils l’appellent. À mon avis, l’épithète est mal choisie : la vieille France est au Canada ; la nouvelle est chez nous. » (Note 3)[iii] (Tocqueville)

“We felt like we were at home and everywhere people greeted us as one of their own, as descendants of ‘Old France’ as they called it.  But to me, it seems more like Old France lives on in Canada and that it is our country [France] which is the new one.” Thus, Tocqueville was surprised by realities he discovered in Canada. Compared to his visits to other foreign countries, the visit to Lower Canada was a brief one. (Note 4) (Tocqueville & Corbo)

The seigneurial system and Religion

Tocqueville notes that the seigneurial system is, for the most part, a “formality,” and that Religion is central to the community.

“The seigneurial system, which would last until 1854, is more of a formality than anything else, even though it is a source of irritation for some. But this does not keep the lands from being properly farmed or from prospering. Religion is central to the community; the clergy holds an important place and proves to be unquestionably loyal to the British authority.” (Corbo)

The Wealth is under English control

Even though the peasants are prosperous, the real wealth is in the hands of the country’s Englishmen. The Mondelet brothers, who [sic] Tocqueville met in Montreal on 24 August, as well as the anonymous English merchant he met on 26 August, reveal to Tocqueville that, “almost all the wealth and commerce is under English control.” On 1st September, Tocqueville confirms in his notes that “the English have control of all foreign trade and run domestic trade without any opposition.” (Note 7)[iv] (Corbo & Corbo’s translations)

Si les paysans sont prospères, la grande richesse, elle, appartient aux Anglais du pays. Tant les frères Mondelet, rencontrés à Montréal le 24 août, que le marchand anglais anonyme de Québec, le 26 août, indiquent à Tocqueville que « presque toute la richesse et le commerce est dans les mains des Anglais. » (Corbo & others)

Predominance of the English Language & Anglicisms

In both cities, “all the signs [enseignes] are in English and there are only two English theatres.” During his visit to the courthouse in Quebec City, Tocqueville observes the predominance of the English language and the mediocrity of the language of French-speaking lawyers, which is riddled with Anglicisms. (Note 8)[v] (Corbo)

Tant à Montréal qu’à Québec, la langue anglaise domine dans la vie et sur la place publique : « La plupart des journaux, les affiches et jusqu’aux enseignes des marchands français sont en anglais. » (Corbo & Tocqueville)

So, on 26 August, having visited the courthouse, Tocqueville comes to the conclusion that the French who live in the former New France are a conquered people and that it is an “irreversible tragedy.”

Je n’ai jamais été plus convaincu qu’en sortant [de ce tribunal] que le plus grand et le plus irrémédiable malheur pour un peuple c’est d’être conquis.

“I have never been more convinced than after I left the courthouse that the greatest and most irreversible tragedy for a people is to be conquered.” (Note 10)[vi] (Corbo’s translation) 

Indians at Snowy Landscape, by Cornelius Krieghoff, c. 1847-1848 (The National Gallery of Canada)

Indians at Snowy Landscape by Cornelius Krieghoff, c. 1847-1848 (The National Gallery of Canada)

Comments

Having expressed pleasure in finding that New France had become Old France, Tocqueville then fears for the future of the French nation he has visited. He was right. The French-Canadian habitant was still prosperous, but there did come a point when the thirty acres could no longer be divided. In fiction as in history, regionalism died. In his 1938 Trente Arpents, or Thirty Acres, Ringuet, the pseudonym used by Philippe Panneton, chronicled its passing away in a poignant manner. The habitant had nowhere to go. Nearly a million French-Canadians and Acadians left for the United States.

RELATED ARTICLES:

  • Regionalism in Quebec Fiction: Ringuet’s Trente Arpents (part one)
  • Regionalism in Quebec Fiction: Ringuet’s Trente arpents (part two)

“Pour l’amour du bon Dieu,” by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1858 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal)

Sources:

Tocqueville, Alexis de, Œuvres complètes : œuvres, papiers et correspondances, édition définitive publiée sous la direction de J. P. Mayer, Paris, Gallimard, 1951-2002, 18 tomes en 30 volumes.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998) in Œuvres complètes.

Habitant, by Cornelius Krieghoff (note the ceinture fléchée) (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff)

“Va au Diable” by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1858 (note the ceinture fléchée), (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal) 

Our habitant says “For the love of God,” knocking at his lawyer’s door, and “Go to the Devil,” as he leaves. He is wearing a hat called une tuque and his ceinture fléchée.

____________________

[i] Claude Corbo, in the Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America. As indicated, Corbo is at times the narrator and, at times, a translator. 

[ii] Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998, p. 105. (Note 2)  

[iii] Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondance familiale, Œuvres complètes, t. XIV, Paris, Gallimard, 1998, p.129. (Note 3)

[iv] Alexis de Tocqueville, Œuvres 1, p. 210. (Note 7)

[v] Œuvres 1, p. 210. (Note 8)

[vi] Alexis de Tocqueville, Œuvres I, p. 205. (Note 10)

Bruce Springsteen sings My Hometown to pictures by Cornelius Krieghoff

The Valley of the Cariboo, by Cornelius Krieghoff,

The Valley of the Cariboo by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856 (la Galerie Walter Klinkhoof)

© Micheline Walker
31 December 2013
WordPress
 

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Krieghoff: Winter, “Habitants” & Amerindians

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Art, Canadian History, Métis

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Canada, Canadian art, Cornelius Krieghoff, List of Canadian artists, Michel Martin Drolling, Paint, Quebec, Wikipedia

 

The Habitant Farm, by Cornelius Krieghoff

The Habitant Farm, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856 (National Gallery of Canada)

Post Stamp

Cornelius Krieghoff 1815 – 1872 issued on 29 November 1972 Canadian Postal Archives

Painting Canada’s Winter

Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 April 1872), was born in Amsterdam, but is usually described as a “Canadian painter.”

For instance, on 29 November 1972, when a Canadian post stamp was issued to commemorate artist Cornelius Krieghoff, Charles C. Hill, the then Curator of Canadian Art at the Canadian National Gallery (Ottawa), stated that:

 Krieghoff was the first Canadian artist to interpret in oils… the splendour of our waterfalls, and the hardships and daily life of people living on the edge of new frontiers.  (See Cornelius Krieghoff, Wikipedia.)

Although born in the Netherlands, Krieghoff, married Louise Gauthier a French-Canadian woman who worked in New York.  He spent several years in the province of Quebec, Canada, and his subject-matter is largely Canadian, which may explain his being considered a Canadian painter.

He painted landscapes, “habitants,” portraits, animals and Amerindians (Native Americans) living in Quebec.  Some of his paintings of habitants are genre paintings. Krieghoff was mostly a genre artist.  In the mid 1840, he befriended Mohawks, (living in the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, near Montreal).  In this respect, i.e. subject-matter and venue, Krieghoff is a ‘Canadian painter,’ best known for his winter landscapes.

The Blizzard, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1857 National Gallery of Canada

The Blizzard, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1857 (National Gallery of Canada)

The Toll Gate, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1861 The National Gallery of Canada

The Toll Gate, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1859
(Photo credit: Wikimedia)

Training: Europe

However, Krieghoff was trained in Europe.  He was introduced to painting by his father, but as of c. 1830, he studied art the Academy of Fine Arts in Germany.  Krieghoff returned to Europe on three occasions.  Between 1844 and 1846, he copied masterpieces of the Louvre as a student of Michel Martin Drolling (7 March 1789 – 9 January 1851).  Drolling was a  neoclassic French portraitist and painter of history.  Consequently he was an academicist, one of the painters whose artworks could be exhibited at the biannual Paris Salon, then the most important exhibition in the world. Krieghoff also travelled to Europe in 1854, “visiting Germany and Italy,” and lived in Europe from 1863 to 1868.  (See Cornelius Krieghoff, Wikipedia.)

Cornelius Krieghoof in North America

In 1836, aged 22, Krieghoff moved to New York and joined the US armed forces. He made sketches of the second Seminole War, which he later transformed into oil paintings.  The Seminole Wars (1816 – 1858) will not be discussed in this post.

On “Habitants”

Until the abolition of the Seigneurial System, in 1854, which occurred eleven years before the abolition of slavery in the United States, an “habitant” was a French Canadian living on the thirty acres of land allotted him by his Seigneur.  Nouvelle-France had been divided into Seigneuries.[i]  The “habitant” was not a slave, but his duties included the corvée, “a day’s unpaid labor owed by a vassal to his feudal lord.”  The corvée seigneuriale is sometimes considered a form of taxation.  The meaning of the word corvée is “chore.”  As for the word “habitant”  (inhabitants), it has acquired a pejorative connotation, that of “uncouth.”  Be that as it may, Krieghoff revelled in painting habitants (literally, “inhabitants”).  (See Corvée seigneuriale (FR), Wikipedia.)[ii]

French Canadians Playing at Cards, by Cornelius Krieghoff

French Canadian Habitants Playing at Cards, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1858 (National Gallery of Canada)

Habitants, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1852 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Habitants, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1852 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Amerindians

Cornelius Krieghoff’s depiction of Amerindians, or Native Americans, is a precious legacy.  These images linger in the memory of those who have had the privilege of seeing them.  As you may know, the first French settlers often married Amerindian women.  There were very few women in New France in the first half of the 17th century.  The Filles du Roi (FR), or King’s Daughters, did not start arriving in New France until 1663.  During the Seminole Wars, the 2nd, Krieghoff had also met Amerindians, but not those he painted.

The French-Canadian voyageurs also created a Métis population.  Those who wintered at fur-trading posts signed a three-year contract.  Many married Amerindian women and it could well be that some had two wives.  The most famous among these Métis is Louis Riel (22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885), a Canadian politician, the Father of Manitoba and one of the Fathers of Confederation.

However, Krieghoff’s Amerindians inhabited Quebec.  I have chosen a video that shows depictions of Amerindians by Cornelius Krieghoff.  We therefore have pictures.

Mosassin Seller Crossing the  St. Lawrence at Quebec City, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1853 - 1863 (Canadian National Gallery)

Mocassin Seller Crossing the
St. Lawrence at Quebec City, by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1853 – 1863 (National Canadian Gallery)

Huron Wendat Hunter calling a Moose

Huron Wendat Hunter calling a moose, 1868 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Conclusion

Cornelius Krieghoff died in Chicago, where he had retired, on March 8, 1872, at the age of 56.  He was buried in Chicago’s Graceland cemetary.  Krieghoff had been exceptionally prolific.  According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, he made “1500 to 1800 paintings and prints.”  The Great Quebec Fire of 8 June1881 destroyed many of his sketches, then owned by John S. Budden.  (See Cornelius Krieghoff, Wikipedia.)

RELATED ARTICLE:

  • The Aftermath & Krieghoff’s Quintessential Quebec (michelinewalker.com)

Sources other than Wikipedia:

  • The Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia

___________________

[i] Benoît Grenier, Brève histoire du régime seigneurial (Montréal: Boréal, 2012). (ISBN 9782764621646)

[ii]  When the Seigneurial system was abolished (1854), habitants did not lose their thirty acres.

Philippe Gélinas, Lise Roy et compagnie – Turlute à Antonio Bazinet

Krieghoff
 
© Micheline Walker
29 December 2013
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Séraphin: Un Homme et son péché, or Heart of Stone

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in French-Canadian Literature, Régionalisme

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Antoine Labelle, Canada, Claude-Henri Grignon, Cornelius Krieghoff, Donalda, Germaine Guèvremont, La Famille Plouffe, Les Belles Histoires des pays d'en haut, Quebec, Un Homme et son péché

Winter Scene in the Laurentians, Cornelius Krieghoff (1867) (Courtesy La Galerie Klinckhoff, Montreal) 

Cornelius Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 March 1872)
(you will find a movie trailer hidden under Séraphin: Heart of Stone)

There are fine novels telling about life in mostly rural Canada. These could be included in a our series on Regionalism in Quebec Fiction. Among such works, two stand out. The first is Claude-Henri Grignon‘s (8 July 1894 – 3 April 1976) Un homme et son péché, and the second, Le Survenant, published in 1945 by Grignon’s cousin  Germaine Guèvremont (16 April 1893 – 21 August 1968). It had a sequel: Marie-Didace.

But we are no longer in Charlevoix. We have moved to Saint-Adèle in the Laurentian mountains, north of Montreal. It is pictured above by Dutch-Canadian artist Cornelius Krieghoff.   

The importance of the novels mentioned above lies to a considerable extent in the popularity of radio (Un Homme et son péché) or television dramatizations of both. Together with Roger Lemelin‘s La Famille Plouffe, not a roman du terroir, these were programmes, one never skipped. There was a time when French-speaking Canadians watched: Les Belles Histoires des pays d’en haut or d’en-haut  (Un Homme et son péché [A Man and his Sin]), La Famille Plouffe, and Le Survenant, as faithfully as they attended Mass on Sunday morning. 

For the time being, I will tell you about Les Belles Histoires (televised) or Un Homme et son péché (the novel).

Les Belles Histoires des pays d’en haut

Grignon’s Un Homme et son péché, 1933, featured three main characters: 

Séraphin Poudrier, the miser
Donalda Laloge, his wife
Alexis Labranche, Donalda’s true love

Séraphin Poudrier, the miser, mistreats his beautiful wife, Donalda, and lets her die because calling in a doctor would cost money. The lovely Donalda dies of pneumonia.  As for Séraphin, he also meets a sorry end. He lets himself die holding on to his  money as a fire burns down his house while everyone is attending Donalda’s funeral. Alexis Labranche, Donalda’s true love, tries to save him repeatedly, but Séraphin will not be separated from his money. After his death, villagers find money inside his clutched hand. 

If you click on Les Belles Histoires des pays d’en haut, you will note, among other things,  that Un Homme et son péché was a 495-episode television series, a téléroman, that featured not only fictional characters, but also real-life celebrities. 

  • One of these is Antoine Labelle, le curé Labelle, who directed unemployed French-Canadians/Québécois, mostly farmers out of a land, to settle North.
  • Another is Honoré Mercier (15 October 1840 – 30 October 1894) the 9th Premier of Quebec (Parti Libéral; in office from 1887-1891). 
  • Finally, the cast also included Arthur Buies, a journalist, as were Grignon and Guèvremont, an advocate of colonization and the first French-Canadian/Quebec writer to express well-articulated anticlerical views.  

These three characters, Labelle and Buies in particular, are known to everyone and, in Quebec, a miser is called un séraphin.  

Allow me to quote Arthur Buies:

The clergy are everywhere, they preside over everything, and no one can think or wish anything except what they allow. . . they seek not the triumph of religion, but the triumph of their own dominance.[i] 

Claude-Henri Grignon’s Un Homme et son péché (1933) can be included in our list of regionalist novels but only as a borderline example of le roman du terroir. Claude-Henri Grignon was a journalist, known for his “trenchant satire of the government of Maurice Duplessis.” (Wikipedia) Duplessis was the 16th and profoundly corrupt Premier of the Province of Quebec (in office from 1936 to 1939, and from 1944 to 1959). 

However, it is a novel of the land inasmuch as le curé Labelle and Arthur Buies are advocates of colonisation.

Grignon, who became a member of the Royal Society of Canada, was not just another journalist no more than he was just another novelist. He was an exceptionally keen observer of Quebec society and provided an excellent chronicle of “la belle province.”  Un Homme et son péché is a satire of rural life in Quebec that mesmerized both readers and television viewers. As I noted above, the televised series was preceded by a radio-drama.   

Un Homme et son péché has been adapted into at least two films. The second film dates back to 2002. It is entitled Séraphin: un Homme et son péché and it has an English-language version: Heart of Stone (trailer), a third film (?). As for the novel, Un Homme et son péché, it was translated into English as The Woman and the Miser (1978).

—ooo—

Next, we will look a Grignon’s cousin’s Le Survenant (The Wanderer) and Marie-Didace, Le Survenant‘s sequel which aired briefly in the late 1950s. Guèvremont’s novels are closer to the roman de la terre, or roman du terroir, the novel of the land, or regionalist, than Grignon’s Un Homme et son péché. Yet, Germaine Guèvremont wrote Le Survenant in 1945, after Ringuet or Philippe Panneton’s Trente Arpents (1938).

  • La Terre paternelle, Patrice Lacombe (1846)
  • Charles Guérin, Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau (1846)
  • Maria Chapdelaine, Louis Hémon (1914)
  • Un Homme et son péché, Claude-Henri Grignon (1933)
  • Menaud, maître-draveur, Félix Antoine Savard (1937)
  • Le Survenant, Germaine Guèvremont (1945)
_________________________
[i] Francis Parmentier, “Arthur Buies,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=40711
  

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The Act of Union: the Aftermath

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, History

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Canada, Cornelius Krieghoff, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Louis-Joseph Papineau, Lower Canada, Province of Canada, Rebellion, Robert Baldwin, United States, William Lyon MacKenzie

      The Falls at Sainte-Anne, by Cornelius Krieghoff

The last time we discussed Canada, the Rebellions of 1837 had been crushed and, in Lower Canada, 58 men had been deported to Australia, 12 were executed and the leaders had fled. In Upper Canada, where the Rebellion had been less severe, Lount, Matthews and Doan were executed and the leaders fled fearing reprisals and, possibly, death.

Carrying a Canoe to the St Maurice River, by Cornelius Krieghoff

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine was appointed Prime Minister in 1842, a year after the Act of Union, with Robert Baldwin leading the western part of the new Canada. Lafontaine resigned in 1843 because Lord Metcalfe was opposed to responsible government, but opposition would not last. On the contrary, colonial officials were prompt to grant more autonomy to a people whose struggle for greater autonomy they had repressed in a very punitive manner.

For instance, in 1843, the year he opposed responsible government, Lord Metcalfe pardoned the rebels who had been exiled, which was unexpected. Louis-Joseph Papineau remained in France for two more years, until 1845, but in 1843 the fifty-eight rebels who had been sent to Australia returned to Canada, now the United Province of Canada.

As for William Lyon Mackenzie, he remained in the United States until the Amnesty Act was passed in 1849. He was the one rebel who had not been pardoned by Lord Metcalfe. But, most importantly, in 1848, Lord Elgin, the Governor General of the Province of Canada, asked Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine to resume his duties as Prime Minister of the Province of Canada, leading a responsible government.

A Responsible Government

An Habitant’s Farm, by Cornelius Krieghoff

It is difficult to understand why, having crushed the 1837 Rebellions, colonial officials would agree to responsible government. Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine were moderate reformers, and it could be that colonial officials knew their resolve and took them seriously. Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, a member of Papineau’s assembly, had travelled to Britain in an effort to avert a call to arms.

Lord Durham: questions left unanswered

As for Lord Durham, there can be little doubt that he had harmed French-speaking Canadians. The Rebellions happened in both Canadas, which meant they could not be dismissed as yet another episode in the very long history of enmity, in Europe,  between the English and the French. Such thinking was an oversimplification on the part of Lord Durham and too many questions remained unanswered. In all likelihood, there was patriotism on both the part of the French-speaking inhabitants of Lower Canada. However, among the rebels, several were English-speaking Canadians and Britain had helped itself to money levied in the two Canadas. As well, William Lyon Mackenzie was the last rebel to be pardoned.

In other words, it would be my view that Lord Durham oversimplified the causes of the rebellions. Besides, his trivializing French-speaking Canadians was injudicious. However, he cannot be brought back from the dead to put his finger on the more complex and true causes of the rebellions, i. e. a struggle for responsible government. Nor can he take back his statement to the effect that French-speaking Canadians were an inferior people who did not have a history, and lacked a literature. So may he rest in peace.

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, joint premier of the Province of Canada, 1848-51
(Oil on canvas, by June Forbes McCormack (courtesy the Government of Ontario Art Collection and the Canadian Encyclopedia)
 

Let us now return to Robert Baldwin and his political partner, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine who “led the first responsible ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government.” [i] Baldwin and Lafontaine were not elected, but appointed to their office on the recommendation, in the early 1840s, of Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Lord Sydenham PC (Privy Council), the first governor of the Province of Canada. Although Lord Sydenham was anti-French, it would appear he was a good judge of character.

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine: Accomplishments

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG [Order of St Michael and St George] (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864), was the second Primer Minister of the United Province of Canada, but the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada.

The Amnesty Act

Lafontaine’s achievements are too numerous for me to list in a post. But I will note that he worked at granting amnesty to the persons who had been exiled as a result of the Rebellions of 1837. Louis-Joseph Papineau waited two more years before returning to Canada, but most rebels had come home in 1843, when Governor General Metcalfe issued a special pardon to the Rebels of 1837. In fact, when the Amnesty Act was proclaimed, on February 1, 1849, the only rebel still at large was William Lyon Mackenzie. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia “[o]nly William Lyon MACKENZIE, the one rebel who had not been given a special pardon in 1843, returned to Canada under the Act.” [ii] 

Rebellion Losses Bill

I will also note that Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine introduced the Rebellion Losses Bill in November 1849. It was passed, but Loyalists protested and burned down Parliament in Montreal. They were now nationalists, which may suggest that they had embraced Lord Durham’s assessment of the Rebellions: an ethnic conflict, and saw the Canadiens as the hereditary enemy of the British. But it may also be in everyone’s best interest to remember that, in 1848, there were nationalistic uprisings in a large number of European nations.

The French Language

Finally, I will also note that “[t]he Lafontaine-Baldwin government, formed on March 11, battled for the restoration of the official status of the French language, which was abolished with the Union Act, and the principles of responsible government and the double-majority in the voting of bills.” [iii] In other words, Lord Durham’s recommendation that French-speaking Canadians be assimilated was not implemented.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine “insisted on speaking French in the Assembly, and because of his action the imperial government later repealed the ACT OF UNION clause prohibiting official use of French.” [iv]

As for the idea of a possible annexation with the United States, it died down. In fact, what colonial authorities now feared, as did Loyalists, was an invasion from the south.  United Empire Loyalists had fled north in 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Britain: 4 July 1776.

So what followed the Act of Union was a return to order and a growing motivation to expand and secure Canada. The goal was to extend its provinces from sea to sea:  A Mari Usque Ad Mare. It would therefore be necessary to build a railroad, but that story will be told later. [V]

Portrait of Jerry, by Cornelius Krieghoff

24 Mendelssohn Lieder ohne Worte, Op.53 – No. 6. Molto allegro vivace in A ‘La fuite’, Daniel Barenboim (piano)
(please click on the title to hear the music)
 
Photo credit:  Wikipedia and la Galerie Klinckhoff
Cornelius Krieghoff (link)

____________________

[i] “Robert Baldwin,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Baldwin

[ii] Curtis Fahey, “Amnesty Act,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/amnesty-act

[iii] Sir Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Hippolyte_Lafontaine

[iv] Jacques Monet, S. J., “Sir Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/sir-louishippolyte-Lafontaine

[v] Ibid.

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Upper and Lower Canada

12 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, History

≈ 479 Comments

Tags

Canada, Cornelius Krieghoff, Eastern Townships, Estrie, Lower Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Quebec Act, United Empire Loyalist, Upper Canada

Owl’s Head and Skinner’s Cove on Lake Memphremagog, by Cornelius Krieghoff (courtesy The Canadian Encyclopedia and National Gallery of Art)

This is Owl’s Head as depicted by Cornelius Krieghoff, in 1856.

By and large, during the many years Dutch-Canadian artist Cornelius Krieghoff spent in Canada, he did not often visit the Eastern Townships, now called l’Estrie, the region southeast of Montreal where seigneurs did not own land.  But he made a painting of Owl’s Head and Skinner’s Cove, on Lake Memphremagog.  Owl’s Head is a small mountain.

United Empire Loyalists & The Eastern Townships

In the early days of Nouvelle-France, the seigneuries were narrow and deep properties situated on the shores of the St Lawrence River. I should think that forestiers (lumberjacks) and coureurs de bois, harvested wood and fur in the Eastern Townships and that there may have been a few Canadiens parishes. However, the Townships were not settled until 10,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the independent Thirteen Colonies out of loyalty to Britain.

Some went to St John’s, New Brunswick, some to Kingston, in the current Province of Ontario, but a large number settled in the area of the Province of Quebec that would be called the Eastern Townships (les Cantons de l’Est).  The Townships were a favourite destination for United Empire Loyalists.

Quebec’s Eastern Townships

The Eastern Townships are a mountainous area.  Its mountains are part of the Appalachian Mountains and therefore not very high or steep.  The Appalachians were probably cropped and rounded by icebergs and other northern giants moving south in a pre-historic past.  But although the Appalachian Mountains do not possess the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains, in Western Canada, they are nevertheless perfect for skiers in winter.  Moreover, the region has several lakes and rivers.  Closest to Sherbrooke, the main city in the Eastern Townships /l’Estrie, is Lake Memphremagog, where the Benedictine Abbey (Saint-Benoît-du-Lac) I wrote about in my Easter post is located. But Lake Memphremagog is also depicted in Krieghoff’s painting featured above (oil on canvas).

The Quebec Act, 1774

But let us travel back in time.  You may recall that the Quebec Act [i] of 1774, discussed in The Aftermath & Krieghoff’s Quintessential Quebec, made French-speaking Canadians full-fledged British citizens.  Many Canadiens were happy to have escaped the French Revolution, the priests in particular.  The same could be said of the seigneurs.  Their life remained as it had been before 1763, the year New France was officially ceded to Britain, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.

Matters changed however with the arrival of United Empire Loyalists in the Province of Quebec and other British locations north of the Thirteen Colonies. Authorities made room for the United Empire Loyalists, although there had been a land rush.  Therefore, a large number of English-speaking settlers were given land in the Eastern Townships, now better known as l’Estrie.  So the Quebec Act was reconsidered.

The Constitutional Act, 1791

Lower Canada and Upper Canada, 1791 (please click on the map to enlarge it)

The year 1791 saw the enactment of the Constitutional Act, an act which Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB (1724 – 1808) opposed.  The former Province of Quebec was divided into two Canadas: Lower Canada, down the St Lawrence River, and Upper Canada, up the St Lawrence River and bordering on the Great Lakes.

This division of the former Province of Quebec gave French-speaking Canadians a land, Lower Canada, in which they were the majority despite the arrival of United Empire Loyalists.  Therefore, their life did not change considerably.  In fact, the creation of Lower Canada gave French-speaking Canadians the sense that they inhabited a Canada of their own.  However, the Constitutional Act protected all Canadiens.  On this subject, I will quote the Canadian Encyclopedia in order to provide you with accurate information:

The Act guaranteed continuity of ownership of lands held under the SEIGNEURIAL SYSTEM in Lower Canada and created the CLERGY RESERVES in Upper Canada. [ii] 

Lower Canada was nevertheless different than the Province of Quebec.  For one thing, it was smaller. Moreover, the inhabitants of Upper Canada were predominantly English-speaking Canadians and those of Lower Canada, predominantly French-speaking Canadians.  In other words, joined, the two Canadas would be a mostly English-speaking country.

In the Canadian Encyclopedia, the Constitutional Act of 1791 is described as follows:

The bill had 4 main objectives: to guarantee the same rights and privileges as were enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in North America; to ease the burden on the imperial treasury by granting colonial assemblies the right to levy taxes with which to pay for local civil and legal administration; to justify the territorial division of the PROVINCE OF QUEBEC and the creation of separate provincial legislatures; and to maintain and strengthen the bonds of political dependency by remedying acknowledged constitutional weaknesses of previous colonial governments. [iii] 

In short, in 1791, the Quebec act was replaced by the Constitutional Act which led to the division of the Province of Quebec into two Canadas.  Everything seemed acceptable but, in 1837-1838, both Canadas rebelled.  Lord Durham, John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), was asked to conduct an enquiry and provide a report as well as recommendations. The Report led to the Act of Union “enacted in July 1840 and proclaimed in 1841.” (Wikipedia, “The Act of Union”).

At this point, we pause so we can remember the essential facts.  1) In 1774, Canadiens inhabited a very large Province of Quebec, but 2), as of 1791, due to the arrival in the Province of Quebec of the United Empire Loyalists, the Province of Quebec was divided into Lower Canada and Upper Canada.  3) As a result, Canadiens lived in a smaller territory, but a territory which they felt was theirs. It was not if the Constitutional Act were “to maintain and strengthen the bonds of political dependency by remedying acknowledged constitutional weaknesses of previous colonial governments.” [iv]

_________________________
[i] A short term for a long title: An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America (please see below).
[ii] Pierre Toussignant, “The Constitutional Act 1791”
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/constitutional-act-1791
[iii]
Pierre Toussignant “The Constitutional Act 1791”http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/constitutional-act-1791
[iv] Pierre Toussignant op. cit.

The Fine Print: 
 

The Quebec Act, 1774

According to Wikipedia, “the principal components of the [Quebec] Act were:

  • The province’s territory was expanded to take over part of the Indian Reserve, including much of what is now southern Ontario, plus Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota.
  • The oath of allegiance was replaced with one that no longer made reference to the Protestant faith.
  • It guaranteed free practice of the Catholic faith.
  • It restored the use of the French civil law for private matters while maintaining the use of the English common law for public administration, including criminal prosecution.”

The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments (Canada) Act, 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c.31), is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain.
(Long title: An Act to repeal certain Parts of an Act, passed in the fourteenth year of his Majesty’s Reign, intituled [sic], An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec, in North America; and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province.)

 
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The Aftermath & Krieghoff’s Quintessential Quebec

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Aboriginals, Art, Canada

≈ 267 Comments

Tags

Canada, Canadian Encyclopedia, Canadien, Constitutional Act 1791, Cornelius Krieghoff, New France, Quebec, Quebec Act, ROYAL PROCLAMATION OF 1763

—Bargaining for a Load of Wood by Cornelius Krieghoff (1815 – 1872), 1860
 
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff
http://www.klinkhoff.com/gwk/home/gwkexhbrowse.asp?WID=769&artist=75
 

“After Canada was ceded to Britain in 1763, new British laws respected the private agreements and the property rights of francophone society, and the seigneurial system was maintained.” The Canadian Encyclopedia

—ooo—

In 1755, the British deported thousands of Acadians but, in 1874, nineteen years later, the Quebec Act made French-speaking Canadians full-fledged British subjects.

At first, there were difficult years on both sides. But, as stated in the Canadian Encyclopedia, after Canada was ceded to Britain in 1763, “new British laws respected the private agreements and the property rights of francophone society, and the seigneurial system was maintained.”[i] For details regarding this question, one can read Michel Brunet’s French Canada and the early decades of the British Rule (go to pages 3 and 4).

The Royal Proclamation and the Quebec Act

The ROYAL PROCLAMATION OF 1763 renamed Nouvelle-France the Province of Quebec, but made it rather small, which would no longer be the case in 1774. According to the Quebec Act, “which received royal assent 22 June 1774 and became effective 1 May 1775,”[ii] the Province of Quebec would “include Labrador, Ile d’Anticosti and Iles-de-la-Madeleine on the east, and the Indian territory south of the Great Lakes between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers on the west.” This enlarged Quebec would have an elected assembly and Catholics could be elected into office.

Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester

The Quebec Act came into effect under General and Right Honourable Sir Guy Carleton 1st Baron Dorchester, KB [Order of Bath] (Strabane, Co. Tyrone, Ireland, 3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808 Stubbings, Maidenhead, Berkshire), Governor of Quebec (1768–1778) and Governor General of the Canadas (1786–1796). But Guy Carleton opposed the Constitutional Act of 1991 that created two Canadas: Lower Canada and Upper Canada.

Lord Guy Carleton[iii] was largely responsible for the Quebec Act, which helped to preserve French laws and customs (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-2833). (The Canadian Encyclopedia)

I will discuss the Constitutional Act (1791), which Lord Dorchester opposed, in a later post. For the time being, it suffices to tell about the life of the Canadien after the Treaty of Paris. France could have kept New France but it preferred to keep sugar-rich Guadeloupe. However, the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which protected Quebec, were respected.

It has been said that it was in Britain’s best interest to give full citizenship to the Canadiens in a formal Act, the Quebec Act. Its thirteen colonies to the South were threatening to part company with England. Therefore, why alienate the French Canadians? Yet, it has also been said that Britain acted in the best interest of its new British subjects.

Cornelius Krieghoff

So, let us remember Cornelius Krieghoof’s quintessential Quebec: a snow land, un pays de neige: snow as a country.

— Winter Landscape, c. 1889 (Photo credit: Art.com) 
 

Cornelius David Krieghoff (19 June 1815 – 8 March 1872) was born in Amsterdam and entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Germany, in c. 1830. He moved to New York in 1836 and enlisted in the US army the following year, 1837. In 1840, he deserted the US army and married Émilie Gauthier.  “They moved to Montreal, where he participated in the Salon de la Société des Artistes de Montréal. While in Montreal, he befriended the Mohawks living on the Kahnawake Indian Reservation and made many sketches of them from which he later produced oil paintings.”[iv]

In 1844, the Krieghoffs travelled to Paris and Krieghoof made copies of works located in the Louvre under the direction of Michel Martin Drolling (1789–1851).  Krieghoof was invited to participate in the first exhibition of the Toronto Society of Arts, held in 1847. So the Krieghoffs returned to Montreal in 1846 and moved to Quebec City in 1853. Krieghoff returned to Europe twice. He did so briefly, in 1854, and at greater length, from 1863 to 1868.

He then moved to Chicago to retire, and Chicago was his last destination. He died on 8 March 1872 at the age of 56 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. The Great Quebec Fire of 8 June 1881 destroyed many of his sketches, “then owned by John S. Budden, who had lived with the artist for thirteen years.” (Wikipedia). Cornelius Krieghoof is considered the finest Canadian artist of the nineteenth century. However, although called a Canadian, he could be labelled a Dutch master.

The Habitant and his Seigneur

Just below is a painting of habitants, the name given censitaires or tenants under the Seigneurial System, abolished in 1854. They had been called habitants since the seventeenth century. The word has now become pejorative.

Habitants, painting by Cornelius Krieghoff

Habitants, 1852 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two Major Themes

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia:

“Krieghoff early on established in his repertoire two major themes that he would revisit throughout his career and for which he is perhaps best known: rural francophones and aboriginals. His HABITANT scenes cover a range of situations: in some, for example, folk greet one another en route, play cards, race their sleds, fraternize at the local in, or attempt to settle a tract of un-arable land – granted to them by the government – in the hinterlands of Québec.”[v]

The hinterlands would be Maria Chapdelaine’s Peribonka: les pays d’en-haut (the countries above), a story told by Frenchman, Louis Hémon.  As for the aboriginals, when he served in the US army, Krieghoff was assigned for service in the Seminole Wars in Florida.  Krieghoff had made sketches of the Second Seminole War.  The Seminoles were Amerindians.

— Wyandot hunter calling a moose, c. 1868 (print)

Track 25 Beethoven Rondo in C major C-Dur; ut majeur Op. 51.1, Louis Lortie
(please click on Track 25 to hear the music)
© Micheline Walker
_________________________
[i] Jacques Mathieu, “The Seignorial System,” The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/seigneurial-system  
[ii] Nancy Brown Foulds, “Quebec Act,” The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/quebec-act 
[iii] S. R. Mealing, “Guy Carleton,” The Canadian Encyclopedia  http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/guy-carleton-1st-baron-dorchester 
[iv] “Cornelius Krieghoff,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Krieghoff 
[v] Arlene Gehmacher, “Cornelius Krieghoff,” The Canadian Encyclopedia
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/cornelius-david-krieghoff
 
 
 
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