Cornelius Krieghoff and landscape
Cornelius Krieghoff, The Passing Storm, Saint-Ferréol, 1854. Oil on canvas, 39 × 50.2 cm. Purchased 1963. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC
Cornelius Krieghoff (1815–72) was born in Amsterdam and died in Chicago, but the major part of his artistic career took place in Quebec. Although he owed his fame to the popularity of his many works featuring French-Canadian peasants and Indigenous people, he also had a strong interest in landscape. Krieghoff concentrated on this genre during his mature period, which spanned the second half of a prolific career. His attraction to landscape flourished in Quebec City, where he had settled. The many picturesque sites in the surrounding countryside and its brilliant autumn colours undoubtedly stimulated his creative spirit.
The small painting The Passing Storm, Saint-Ferréol is one of Krieghoff’s first depicting a waterfall, although it was a subject he would return to often. Somewhat atypically, the artist made it a pure landscape, with no trace of human presence. The picture’s excellent condition places it among the pearls of his production, one of the rare works that allow us to fully appreciate the range of means at his disposal in capturing all the delicacy and depth of a view. Especially noteworthy is the handling of the rocks, whose details he has skilfully exploited in his quest for expressive form. The artist evidently took great pains to convey the scene’s diversity of texture. Seen from a slight distance, it becomes clear that the composition is based on an alternation of shade and light that serves both a representational and an expressive function. Remarkable, too, are the subtlety and complexity of the chromatic harmonies – essentially variations of brown, green and red. The work’s topographical interest is eclipsed by the allure of its shapes and textures. Ultimately, this apparently spontaneous but in fact adroitly orchestrated composition reveals the artist’s sensibility and his ability to express it on canvas. Few of Krieghoff’s paintings are charged with such emotion. He does not simply picture the approaching storm: he makes us feel it.
Cornelius Krieghoff painting The Passing Storm, Saint-Ferréol is on view in Room A102b of the National Gallery of Canada. Share this article and subscribe to our newsletters to stay up-to-date on the latest articles, Gallery exhibitions, news and events, and to learn more about art in Canada.
