A Gentleman Travelling in a Dog Cariole in Hudson's Bay with an Indian Guide
signed 'Peter Rindisbacher' (lower right)
watercolour and bodycolour
19.1 x 28.2cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/8in).
on watermarked paper 'JR/1824'

Footnotes

Peter Rindisbacher was born in 1806 in Eggiwil, Berne, Switzerland. From a young age he trained professionally with Alpine watercolour landscape artist and printmaker, Jakob Samuel Weibel (1771-1846). In 1821, at age 15, he immigrated to British North America (Canada) with his large family via Hudson Bay to Lord Selkirk's Red River settlement (Winnipeg) where he continued to paint. In 1826, after five challenging years in Canada, the family moved to the United States and Peter eventually settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where he prospered and painted, but died prematurely in 1834.

Rindisbacher found there to be a market for his portrayals of his remarkable voyage and life experience in North America. Increasing demand for his highly prized subjects of the regions Native culture caused him to generate several finished variants of his work in his inimitable, crisp and brilliant graphic style. Working not only for local commissions, but also having limited numbers of his watercolours engraved to satisfy the printed culture and illustrated press of Europe and North America at the time. The brief permeation of his work lent him a degree of fame in his lifetime.

In reference to a very closely comparable work offered by Bonhams in 2008, Gilbert Gignac, independent Curator previously with Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, noted:

'Rindisbacher's lyrical procession, 'Dog Cariole' denotes a genteel scene of a unique mode of winter transport gliding over the western prairie. This version [...] is unquestionably one of the finest watercolours from the hand of the artist. Set on the stark-white, winter prairie before a burst of blue clouds, the group's elegant classical design is punctuated with vibrant reds, yellows and blues. The work was held in such high esteem as to figure amongst the six earliest lithographic views after Rindisbacher's work, published by the Hudson's Bay Company in London, in 1825.

The compelling beauty of Rindisbacher's work continues to also captivate scholars in Europe and North America, whose [...] research [...] sheds light on his work and his interpretations of North American Native culture. The ever-increasing swell of appreciation for his oeuvre justly recognizes its brilliant and enriching contribution to early North American western art.'

Saleroom notices

Please note that this work is unframed.

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