Rare Painting by Paul Kane Goes to Auction
For Immediate Release November 8, 2002 – Calgary, Alberta, Canada –
An important painting by 19th century artist Paul Kane entitled Portrait of Maungwudaus will be offered at auction by Levis Fine Art Auctions and Appraisals on Sunday, December 1, 2002. Kane ranks with George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Charles Bird King, and John Mix Stanley as one of the most important ethnological artists of the 19th century, and his works are renowned for their historical accuracy. The subject of the portrait, Maungwudaus, was a renowned international lecturer who counted President Zachary Taylor, Queen Victoria, and King Louis Phillipe of France among his audiences. The painting is one of 299 lots to be sold at the auction, which begins at 1 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) at the Nickle Arts Museum (434 Collegiate Boulevard) on the University of Calgary campus.
The majority of Paul Kane’s work is held in museum collections across Canada and the United States, making it rare for a Kane painting to appear at auction. Over the past 10 years, only seven Kane works have come to auction. Early in 2002, a Kane painting called Scene in the Northwest - Portrait (ca. 1845) sold for $4.6 million CND, setting a new record price for Canadian art. The pre-sale estimate of between $2,800,000 and $3,000,000 CND for Portrait of Maungwudaus reflects the growing awareness of Kane’s work in the current art market.
Paul Kane (1810-1871) trained as an artist at Toronto’s Upper Canada College. He worked as a portrait painter in Detroit, St. Louis, New Orleans, Mobile, and other U.S. cities before travelling to Europe to study art. In London, Kane visited an exhibition by George Catlin and saw his paintings of North American Indians. Inspired, Kane embarked on a painting expedition into the Canadian Northwest to “sketch pictures of the principal chiefs, and their original costumes, to illustrate their manners and customs, and to represent the scenery of an almost unknown country”.
Between 1845 and 1848, he travelled from the Great Lakes as far west as the Oregon Territory. His historically accurate sketches, watercolours and paintings depict the Native people he met and the landscape he explored. These works, and the oil paintings he created based on the sketches, established him as an artist, receiving high critical acclaim at the 1855 Paris World’s Fair.
Kane painted Portrait of Maungwudaus around 1851. A powerful speaker who stood over six feet tall, Maungwudaus (born circa 1811; date of death unknown) was an Ojibwa-speaking Mississauga who left his career with the Methodist church as a translator and sometime preacher to form a Native dance troupe. In 1844, the troupe toured the United States, performing in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and New York. In 1845, they embarked for Europe, where they joined American artist George Catlin and performed for the royal families of France and Belgium. In 1848, Maungwudaus published an account of his travels that offered his impressions of Europe and its people, providing a rare and refreshing counterpoint to countless books by Europeans on their impressions of North American Native peoples.
In 1851, Maungwudaus performed and lectured at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto and it is likely the portrait was painted at that time. Kane depicts Maungwudaus as he appeared on stage, wearing an eagle feather headdress, medals, and a necklace of massive grizzly bear claws.
Portrait of Maungwudaus was commissioned by a Mr. Crewe and was sent to England on its completion. After 20 years, Mr. Crewe’s eldest son brought the painting back to Canada. It was acquired by the Royal Canadian Institute and was loaned to the Canadiana Gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum in 1957. The painting was sold to an unnamed buyer at Sotheby’s Canada in June, 1999, and the buyer applied to the Canadian government for an export permit for the painting as outlined in the Canadian Cultural Property Export and Import Act. Due to the historical significance and national importance of the painting, the application was turned down. Portrait of Maungwudaus has recently been on loan to the National Gallery of Canada.
Levis Fine Art Auctions holds two auctions per year in Calgary as well as specialized auctions for estates, corporations and galleries throughout Alberta. Clients include institutions, corporate collections, commercial galleries and private collectors from across Canada, the United States, and overseas. At the December 1 Levis Fine Art Auction, nearly 300 lots will be offered, including works by important Canadian artists such as Robert Bateman, A.Y. Jackson, F.H. Varley, and Jean-Paul Riopelle.
Additional background information on Paul Kane and Maungwudaus is available at www.levisauctions.com or by calling Levis Fine Art Auctions at (403) 541-9099.
Images of Portrait of Maungwudaus can be provided by e-mail at mail@levisauctions.com.
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Media contacts: Anna Gardner or Doug Levis
Levis Fine Art Auctions:
(403) 541-9099