ARCA OC
1892 - 1978
Canadian
Portrait of an Indian
pastel on sandpaper
signed
26 x 20 in, 66 x 50.8 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
Sold for: $32,450
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE
Hugh A. Dempsey, History in Their Blood: The Indian Portraits of Nicholas de Grandmaison, 1982, pages 40 and 46
Nicholas de Grandmaison was born in Russia to an aristocratic family and spent his early life as an army officer. In 1919 he attended a Russian officers’ training camp in England, but a short time later, revolution in Russia closed the door to his returning to his homeland. Instead, he went to art school in London, and in 1923, immigrated to Canada, settling in the Prairies. Portraiture was his chosen genre, facilitated by his charming, engaging personality. In 1930, during a pivotal trip to The Pas in northern Manitoba, he became fascinated with First Nations peoples. He saw them in a romantic light as independent and proud, and attained renown for his depictions of members of First Nations tribes such as the Peigan, Blackfoot and Blood. De Grandmaison passionately declared, “I love them as fellow brothers. They have character, color and history in their blood...These are my children, and I wish to preserve their faces for posterity. I shall paint them until I die.” De Grandmaison was a master of the pastel medium, as seen in this particularly fine portrait, which embodies the noble character that he sought in his subjects.
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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