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by Kenneth R. Lister
This Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) publication, Paul Kane/the Artist/: Wilderness to Studio beautifully illuminates a jewel of the ROM’s collections, the works of the Irish-born Canadian artist, Paul Kane (1810-1871). The book, published in the bicentennial of the artist’s birth, is written by Kenneth R. Lister, Assistant Curator of Anthropology in the ROM’s Department of World Cultures. Paul Kane/the Artist/ is the perfect gift for students of Canadian history, art historians, connoisseurs of art, anthropologists, those interested in the cultures of Aboriginal peoples and, of course, the many admirers of Kane’s art.
The ROM’s anthropology section holds the world’s largest collection of Paul Kane’s art — 100 oil paintings and nearly 400 sketches in graphite and watercolour. This landmark study marks the first time that the ROM’s collection has been published in a single work. In addition to providing the works’ historical context, Lister compares the wilderness sketches and studio paintings for ethnographic accuracy and artistic license.
To highlight further the artist’s life and work, Lister includes a rare manuscript from the ROM’s collections, a previously unpublished account by Maude Cassels, daughter of the
Honourable G. W. Allan, Kane’s principal patron. Responding to Cassels’ observation that little was known of the artist’s family, Kane’s great-great grandson, Paul James Kane, has contributed a section on Kane family genealogy, complemented by archival photographs. An exhibition history for each sketch and oil painting in the ROM’s collection is also included.