Cornelius Krieghoff

This article is about the painter. For the gun manufacturer, see H. Krieghoff.

Cornelius Krieghoff
Cornelius Krieghoff photographed by M.O. Hammond
Born	(1815-06-19)June 19, 1815 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	March 5, 1872(1872-03-05) (aged 56) Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	Dutch Canadian
Education	Michel Martin Drolling
Known for	Painting
Notable work	The Toll Gate, 1859
Spouse	Émilie Gauthier (m. 1837)

Cornelius David Krieghoff (June 19, 1815 – March 5, 1872) was a Dutch-Canadian painter of the 19th century. Krieghoff is most famous for his paintings of Canadian landscapes and Canadian life outdoors, which were as sought after in his own time as they are today. He is particularly famous for his winter scenes, some of which he painted in a number of variants (e.g. Running the Toll).

Life and career

Krieghoff was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. When Cornelius was a boy, his father returned to Germany and worked for Wilhem Sattler to establish a wallpaper factory. His family was given accommodations in Schloss Mainberg, a 12th-century castle owned by Sattler, situated overlooking the Main River. He was initially taught by his father and then entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Germany about 1830. He moved to New York in 1836, and enlisted in the First Regiment of Artillery in the United States Army in 1837. While in the army, he made sketches of the Second Seminole War. He was discharged from the army in 1840. Krieghoff traveled to Paris in 1844, where he copied masterpieces at the Louvre under the direction of Michel Martin Drolling (1789–1851).

Together with his wife Émilie Gauthier, he moved to Montreal around 1846; he participated in the Montreal Society of Artists in 1847. 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.

Krieghoff's grave at Graceland Cemetery

He and his family moved to Quebec City in 1853. He returned to Europe in 1854, visiting Italy and Germany. In 1855, he returned to Canada. He served for a short time in the Volunteer Militia Company of Engineers in Montreal, then lived in Europe from 1863 to 1868 and moved to Chicago to retire. He died in Chicago on March 5, 1872 at the age of 56 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. A decade later, on June 8, 1881, the Great Quebec Fire destroyed many of the sketches he had done at the time of his service In the First Regiment of Artillery in Florida, which were owned at the time by John S. Budden, who had lived with the artist for thirteen years.

According to Charles C. Hill, the former Curator of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, "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".

The public collections holding works by Cornelius Krieghoff are the Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, Canada), the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada), the Beaverbrook Art Gallery (Fredericton, Canada), the Brooklyn Museum (New York City), the Glenbow Museum (Calgary, Canada), the McCord Museum (Montreal, Canada), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal, Canada), Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (Quebec, Canada), the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Canada), the New York Public Library (New York City), the Rockwell Museum (Corning, New York), the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, Canada) and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax, Canada).

Recognition

On November 29, 1972 Canada Post issued 'Cornelius Krieghoff, painter, 1815–1872' designed by William Rueter based on a painting "The Blacksmith's Shop" (1871), by Cornelius Krieghoff in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario. The 8¢ stamps are perforated 11 and were printed by British American Bank Note Company.

On July 7, 2000 Canada Post issued 'The Artist at Niagara, 1858, Cornelius Krieghoff' in the Masterpieces of Canadian art series. The stamp was designed by Pierre-Yves Pelletier based on an oil painting "The Artist at Niagara" (1858) by Cornelius Krieghoff in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario. The 95¢ stamps are perforated 13 x 13.5 mm and were printed by Ashton-Potter Limited.

Auction record

The auction record for a painting by Cornelius Krieghoff is $350,000 Canadian. This record was set by Mail boat landing at Quebec, a 17 by 24 inch oil painting on canvas sold November 20, 2006 at Sotheby's & Ritchies (Toronto).

Gallery

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  The Blacksmith's Shop', oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 22 x 36 in, 1871, Art Gallery of Ontario
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  Self-portrait by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1855, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  The Toll Gate, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1859
• 
  The Toll Gate, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1861, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  The Blizzard, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1857, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  The Habitant Farm, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1856, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  The Ice Bridge at Longue-Pointe, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1847–1848, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  The River Road, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1855, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  Winter Landscape, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1849, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  Winter Landscape, Laval, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1862, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  Following the Moose, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, ca. 1860, 11 x 9.5 in., Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Fraser with Mr. Miller Up, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1854, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  Indian Wigwam in Lower Canada, lithograph with watercolor on wove paper
• 
  The Passing Storm, Saint-Ferréol, oil on canvas painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1854, National Gallery of Canada
• 
  Habitants, painting by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1852
• 
  Lumber Raft on the St. Lawrence, 1867
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  Print, Wyandot hunter calling a moose, by Cornelius Krieghoff, about 1868
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  Indian Woman Moccasin Seller
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  He signed C. Krieghoff

Bibliography

• Barbeau, Charles Marius: Cornelius Krieghoff, Pioneer Painter of North America. The Macmillan Company of Canada, ltd., Toronto 1934.
• Barbeau, Charles Marius: Cornelius Krieghoff. Ryerson Press, Toronto 1948.
• Barbeau, Marius: Cornelius Krieghoff. Society for Art Publications, Toronto 1962.
• Harper, J. Russell: Cornelius Krieghoff, The Habitant Farm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 1977.
• Harper, J. Russell (1979). Krieghoff. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
• Jouvancourt, Hugues de: Cornelius Krieghoff. Musson Book Co., Toronto 1973.
• Ministère des affaires culturelles: Cornélius Krieghoff, 1815–1872. Québec 1971.
• Reid, Dennis (1999). Cornelius Krieghoff: The Development of a Canadian Artist, Krieghoff, Images of Canada. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 45–97. Retrieved July 22, 2020..
• Vézina, Raymond: Cornelius Krieghoff, peintre de mœurs, 1815–1872. Éditions du Pélican, Québec 1972.
• Winkworth, Monsieur: Exposition d'estampes en l'honneur de C. Krieghoff, 1815–1872. McCord Museum, Montréal 1972.

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Works by Cornelius Krieghoff (illustrator) at Faded Page (Canada)
• National Gallery of Canada
• Cornelius Krieghoff in ArtCyclopedia
• Smithsonian American Art Museum Art Inventories Catalog