Chronology of the Life, Career, Art, and Legacy of James Henderson
1871 Born 21 August 1871 to James Henderson and Christina McAinsh at Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland.[1]
1887 Graduated from public school in 1887 at sixteen years of age.[2]
1887–94 Apprenticed to a lithographic artist for seven years. During this period attended at intervals evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art, of which Francis Newbery was the headmaster.[3][4]
1900 Married Jean (Jeanie) Lang on 17 April 1900 at the Windsor Hotel, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow.[5]
1894–1901/2 “… went to London to reproduce pictures and coloured drawings for a firm of Engravers by their own process (and) stayed with them for 7 or 8 years…”[6]
1902–1909 “… I did Commercial Art designing and drawing. During that period I sketched and painted every possible chance I could get…[7]
1909 “… (I) once had a Landscape accepted by the New English Art Club for one of their Annual Exhibitions—I think it was 1908 or 1909.”[8][9]
1910 “Came to visit some relations in Regina in 1910 and became interested in the development of the West…”[10][11]
1910–early 1920s Initially in Regina and subsequently in Fort Qu’Appelle, earned living through commercial and ceremonial graphics design and lithography and, where possible, portrait commissions. However, as Arthur Hayworth commented, “There was little demand for portraiture, and the field of commercial art was limited.”[12]
1911 Received the Greater Regina Club’s prize of twenty-five dollars as the competition winner for the most appropriate cover design for a forthcoming publication, Commercial Illustrated Souvenir.[13]
1912 Exhibited three watercolours with the Manitoba Society of Arts & Crafts at the Winnipeg Art Gallery from 20 to 31 May.[14]
1913–1923 Commissioned by the Province of Saskatchewan to paint a number of official portraits: notable examples included King Edward VII, Hon. Hugh Richardson (who, among many achievements in a distinguished career, presided as the Trial Judge for Louis Riel in 1885), and Mr. Justice Brown of the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan and later Chief Justice of the Courts of King’s Bench and Queen’s Bench from 1918 to 1957.[15]
1915–1916 Uncertainty surrounds the year of the Hendersons’ relocation from Regina to the village of Fort Qu’Appelle, approximately 65 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of Regina in a very picturesque part of the Qu’Appelle Valley. The year has been variously recorded as 1915 or 1916. For example, Arthur Hayworth cites it as 1915, whereas John Hawkes has recorded it as 1916.[16]
1920 Formation of Fort Qu’Appelle Country Club, Inc. Although not one of the six charter members, Henderson was one of the original subscribers (Share No. 28). An undated document records subsequent acquisition of an additional share (No. 74). One other undated document records both “Jas. Henderson and Mrs. Jas. Henderson” as being members.[17]
1921 Portrait of Mr. Justice Newlands completed and hung in the Regina courthouse, for the Law Society of Saskatchewan.[18]
1922 Portrait of the late King Edward VII completed for the Saskatchewan Legislative Chamber.[19]
1923 National attention drawn to purchase of a portrait titled Bull Bear (a resident of the Blackfoot Reserve at Gleichen, Alberta), “purchased by the Women’s Canadian Club of Calgary to form the nucleus of a proposed art gallery for the city.”[20]
1923 Early in the year made a visit to patrons Mr. and Mrs. Ernest E. Poole in Victoria, British Columbia. (Mr. Poole was the founder of Poole Construction Co. in Stoughton, Saskatchewan, in 1906 and a prominent citizen of Regina from 1914 to 1932. Poole Construction continues in 2010 as PCL Constructors Inc.) One of the purposes of the visit was to deliver to Victoria purchasers’ portraits of Blackfoot Weasel Calf, Many Shots and Raw Eater.[21]
The foregoing and four other paintings were publicly exhibited in the Island Arts and Crafts room of the Union Bank Building. The works were Sunshine (also known as Little Sunshine, a portrait of the Poole’s daughter Ruth) and landscapes Evening, Close of Day, and Qu’Appelle Valley.[22]
1924 Exhibited oil painting Sioux Indian at the British Empire Exhibition, at Wembley, London.[23]
1924 Solo Exhibition at Regina College, 30 October–1 November, under the auspices of the Local Council of Women’s Art Committee.[24]
1924 Solo Exhibition at Nutana Collegiate, Saskatoon, 6 to 8 November.[25]
1925 Exhibited five landscapes and three Indian portraits in an exhibition titled Artists of Saskatchewan, at the University of Toronto’s Hart House, 23 March to 6 April.[26]
1925 Publication of Catalogue of Pictures (in the Private Collection of Norman Mackenzie, Esq., K.C.). Mr. Mackenzie was Henderson’s principal patron and advocate.[27]
1925 In connection with publication of the foregoing catalogue, and again under the auspices of the University Women’s Club, a public viewing of the private collection of Norman Mackenzie, K.C., was offered on Friday 17 April. The viewing took place from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Mr. Mackenzie’s home at 2336 Victoria Avenue in Regina. The Regina Morning Leader stated, “There are now 103 pictures in his home, not displayed in a formal gallery, but hung in every room, lived with, and loved.”[28]
1925 Exhibited oil painting Weasel Calf, Blackfoot Chief in the Canadian Section of Fine Arts, at the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, London.[29]
1925 Publication of Newton MacTavish’s The Fine Arts in Canada, the first comprehensive overview of Canadian painters, sculptors and their art. Of the book’s 105 illustrations, the first is by James Wilson Morrice, the second by Cornelius Krieghoff (two icons in the annals of Canadian art history), and the third was Sioux Indian by James Henderson. The foregoing is indicative of the stature enjoyed by Henderson following his inclusion in the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London.[30]
1925 In mid-year correspondence between University of Saskatchewan President Walter C. Murray and Henderson, there were indications of Jean Henderson experiencing ill health, and the latter negatively impacting upon James’ ability to work effectively. Her condition would prevail and affect Henderson’s work capability for some years to come.[31]
1925 Commissioned by the University of Saskatchewan to paint twelve portraits of Indians, representing the tribes of Saskatchewan and Alberta.[32]
1925 In late 1925 (inferred from a reference to the 1925 British Empire Exhibition), the Victoria Daily Colonist reported that the Hendersons were spending “a few months” in Victoria.[33]
1926 Exhibited oil painting Sioux Indian in a Special Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, from 21 January to 28 February.[34]
1926 Exhibited Indian portrait Weasel Calf, Blackfoot Chief at the Queen’s Park Branch of the Manchester Art Gallery, England, from 28 August to 9 October.[35]
1926 Group Exhibition at Regina City Hall, 3–6 November, under the auspices of the Local Council of Women’s Art Committee. “Instead of prairie and Qu’Appelle Valley scenes, this year’s group of Henderson’s have [sic] been made in the Rocky Mountains and at the Pacific Coast.”[36]
1927 The Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (believed to be the first ‘annual’ event) was held at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 11 January–28 February. Henderson was not recorded among the exhibitors.[37]
1928 Exhibited six Indian portraits and one landscape in the Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, from 24 January to 28 February.[38]
1928 Norman Mackenzie presented to Henderson a 17.5 in. circular format oil on canvas Head of Man, attributed to Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).[39]
1928 The Trustees of the National Galley, Ottawa, purchased the portrait Shot on [sic] Both Sides, a Blackfoot [sic] Indian. This subject was actually a Blood Indian. This was stated to be “the first Saskatchewan painting to be purchased by the National Gallery.”[40]
1928 Arrival of 18-year-old Rose (Rosie) Riess on 8 June[41] to serve as resident housekeeper responsible for maintenance of the Henderson home and studio, and to assist with the care of Jean Henderson, whose health had begun to deteriorate. Thirty-nine years younger, Rosie became a virtual daughter to the Hendersons, who were childless. Because of her lack of formal education, Rosie credited Mrs. Henderson with teaching her basic skills such as learning to read and write.[42] With music being important in their lives (for James the cello, for Jean the piano), the Hendersons encouraged and sponsored Rosie’s musical education. Trained principally on piano (but also possessing a violin and an accordion), she had several Toronto Conservatory of Music certificates still hanging on her bedroom wall in the late-1970s. Following Henderson’s 1951 death, Rosie would continue to live in the house until her own passing in 1982.[43]
1928 Exhibited approximately ten paintings among a display of eighty works at the July-August Regina Exhibition.[44]
1929 In early-year correspondence with University of Saskatchewan President Walter C. Murray, Henderson alluded to a continuing personal illness.[45]
1929 Exhibited two Indian portraits and one landscape in the Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[46]
1929 Exhibited one small landscape in the Manitoba Society of Artists Exhibition, Winnipeg, 23 March to 13 April.[47]
1929 Group Exhibition at Regina City Hall in late-September, under the auspices of the Saskatchewan Women’s Art Association. Other noted Saskatchewan artists exhibiting included Inglis Sheldon-Williams (formerly of Regina, but then living abroad) and Joseph H. Lee-Grayson.[48]
1930 Exhibited two Indian portraits and one landscape in the Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[49]
1930 Landscape Afternoon in the Coulee (oil, 20 x 24 in.) purchased by the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa from its 1930 (Golden Jubilee) Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art.[50]
1930 In early-May, Henderson attributed to continuing illness his inability to have begun for the University of Saskatchewan a long-requested portrait of Sir Frederick Haultain (1857–1942), the University’s chancellor from 1917 to 1940.[51]
1930 Spent approximately one month painting in southern Ontario’s Muskoka Lakes region.[52]
1930 Exhibited an Indian portrait at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, from 22 August to 6 September.[53]
1931 Exhibited two landscapes and one Indian portrait in the Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[54]
1931 Exhibited one landscape in the Spring Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 20 March–19 April, Montreal.[55]
1932 Exhibited two landscapes and one Indian portrait in the Seventh Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[56]
1932 Exhibited two landscapes in the Spring Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 17 March–17 April, Montreal.[57]
1932 Exhibited one Indian portrait and one landscape in the All-Canadian Exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery from May to June. [58]
1932 Painting titled The End of Winter (oil, 24 x 30 in.) presented to the National Gallery of Canada by P. D. Ross, LL.D. of Ottawa.[59]
1933 Exhibited three landscapes in the Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.[60]
1933 Exhibited one landscape at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, from 25 August to 9 September.[61]
1934–1935 The Hendersons spent approximately eleven months in Scotland, where Henderson painted prolifically.[62]
1935 Exhibited two landscapes in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibition, Montreal.[63]
1936 On 2 January, patron and advocate Norman Mackenzie passed away. Born in Sarnia, Ontario, on 27 January 1869, Mackenzie came to Regina in 1891 where, in partnership with George W. Brown (1860–1919), he formed what would become one of Saskatchewan’s most successful law practices. (Brown served as Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan from October 1910 to October 1915.)[64]
1936 The National Gallery of Canada exhibited its Henderson landscape Afternoon in the Coulee in its Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Painting, Ottawa. Under the auspices of the Carnegie Corporation, this exhibition is believed to have circulated among additional international venues.[65]
1936 Exhibited in March at the Sixty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of The Ontario Society of Artists at The Art Gallery of Toronto.[66]
1936 Exhibited one landscape in the Spring Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 19 March to 12 April, Montreal.[67]
1936 Solo exhibition at Regina College, 19–24 October, under the auspices of the Local Council of Women’s Art Committee. This was the most comprehensive exhibition of Henderson’s work displayed during his lifetime.[68]
1937 Exhibited “eight large paintings” under the Grandstand at the annual Regina Exhibition, together with an “exhibit of 160 pictures obtained through the National Gallery, Ottawa.”[69]
1937 Wife Jean Henderson passed away on 29 July following a lengthy illness, and was buried at Fort Qu’Appelle in Hillside Cemetery overlooking the Valley.
1937 Exhibited seven paintings among a display of seventy-two works at the Exhibition of Paintings by Saskatchewan Artists, at Regina College from 16 to 20 November, under the auspices of the Local Council of Women’s Arts and Letters Committee.[70]
1937-1938 Exhibited in the University of Saskatchewan’s travelling exhibition, Works of Art by Saskatchewan Artists.[71]
1938 Exhibited Indian Portrait and The End of Winter in A Century of Canadian Art at the Tate Gallery, London, England.[72]
1939 Exhibited six paintings among a display of eighty-nine works at the Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Saskatchewan Artists, at Regina College from 31 October to 5 November, under the auspices of the Local Council of Women’s Arts and Letters Committee.[73]
1939 Exhibited in a group exhibition at Calgary’s City Council Chamber with fellow Saskatchewan artists Augustus Kenderdine, Fred Steiger, and Hilda Stewart.[74]
c. 1930s Henderson’s paintings were offered during the 1930s through Mellors Fine Art Ltd., predecessor to nationally prominent Laing Galleries of Toronto.[75]
1946 On 24 January 1946 the Saskatchewan Cancer Commission’s Regina Clinic sent an unaddressed follow-up ‘form-letter’ inquiry pursuant to a consultation or treatment received by Henderson on 19 June 1945. The undated response indicated that, “The treated areas look healthy and normal…. (T)he treatments have resulted in a complete cure.” At the age of seventy-four, Henderson had clearly been experiencing a significant health problem.[76]
1946 Purchase by the Regina Public Library of Late October, Qu’Appelle Valley and Autumn, Qu’Appelle Valley. The record of this lengthy transaction—October 1945 to late-December 1946—provides insight to some of the art materials supply challenges faced by an artist in the post-WW II period.[77]
1946 Exhibit of The End of Winter at the Grand Opening of the Red Door Gallery in Regina, as part of an exhibition of ten Saskatchewan painters and several others from Toronto and New York. The painting was on-loan from the National Gallery of Canada, and was reportedly complemented by a small photolithographic reproduction being featured on the cover of the exhibition’s catalogue.[78]
1950 Exhibited in a group exhibition at the annual Regina Exhibition. A total of sixty-four paintings by Henderson were displayed, together with twenty-four by Fr. Henry Metzger (1877–1949) and three by Augustus Kenderdine (1870–1947).[79]
1951 At the University of Saskatchewan’s Spring Convocation in May, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree was conferred in absentia, in recognition of Henderson’s contribution to the cultural life of Saskatchewan and Canada. Too frail to travel, Henderson’s name was presented by head of the university’s art department and professor of art, Dr. Gordon W. Snelgrove. Among Dr. Snelgrove’s remarks, he referred to Henderson as the “dean of Saskatchewan artists… esteemed throughout Canada as a painter of the first rank.”[80]
1951 Following a heart attack in Fort Qu’Appelle, Henderson passed away in Regina’s General Hospital on Thursday, 5 July, forty-seven days in advance of his eightieth birthday. The funeral was conducted on Saturday, 7 July at the Anglican Church in Fort Qu’Appelle. Burial followed beside his wife Jean in Fort Qu’Appelle’s Hillside Cemetery overlooking the valley.[81]
1951 On 11 July a special memorial exhibit opened in the Tower Room at Regina College. Comprised of twenty-one Indian portraits and five landscapes, the paintings were scheduled to be on display for approximately one month.[82]
1952 The James Henderson LL.D. Chapter of the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire (IODE, a Canadian women’s charitable organization) was organized on 4 March in Regina. The Chapter was named in honour of Henderson “to pay tribute to this man who had made a name for Saskatchewan in the realm of art.”[83]
1958 Publication of “James Henderson of the Qu’Appelle Valley” by Arthur Hayworth in the spring 1958 issue of Saskatchewan History. Although lacking in scholarly research and thus very derivative, in the absence of a unified source of information, prior to publication of this catalogue, Hayworth’s article was considered to be the definitive source on Henderson’s life and work.[84]
1958 Publication of “James Henderson… Artist of Fort Qu’Appelle” by Grace E. Russell in the 12 June issue of The Western Producer. Although not entirely historically accurate, it does serve as a useful complement to Arthur Hayworth’s Saskatchewan History article, “James Henderson of the Qu’Appelle Valley”.[85]
1964–1965 In late 1964, a surprise and a mystery were reported in the Leader-Post (Regina) regarding an unknown Henderson portrait subject in the collection of the Province of Saskatchewan. The surprise was that Chief Justice E. M. Culliton and former Chief Justice W. M. Martin identified the portrait as the Hon. Hugh Richardson, whose portrait was already in the Province’s collection. The mystery was why Henderson would have painted for the Province two very different-appearing portraits of Richardson. This would be solved through the historical background of two different photographs being discovered in the Legislative Library in early 1965.[86]
1967 A biographical vignette of Henderson appeared in ‘The Saskatchewanians’ on 4 and 5 April. This series featured notable past and present Saskatchewan residents, and appeared weekly in newspapers throughout Saskatchewan. The article included a small portrait of Henderson drawn by H. Pettry.[87]
1967 Included in Painting in Saskatchewan, 1883–1959 at the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 6 October to 5 November; and the Mendel Art Gallery, 15 November to 15 December. Three landscapes and two Indian portraits were exhibited.[88]
1969 Solo exhibition at Saskatchewan’s Mendel Art Gallery during July and August. Prior to the current Retrospective of Henderson’s career, this exhibition of 110 paintings represented the largest public display of his work up to the present time.[89]
1971 Included in Saskatchewan: Art and Artists, a comprehensive overview of the history of Saskatchewan art from c. 1900 to 1970, exhibited jointly at the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery and Regina Public Art Gallery, from 2 April to 31 July.[90]
1979 Nine Indian portraits and five landscapes were exhibited at the Gordon Snelgrove Galley, University of Saskatchewan, from 14 May to 8 June, to honour the 1979 Learned Societies Conference.[91]
1979 The Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery of Regina exhibited Henderson’s Winter Landscape (also known as Winter’s Garment) in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s Summer Exhibition, Scottish Painting in Canada.[92]
1982 Henderson’s long-time housekeeper Rosie (Riess) Weinzierl passed away on 23 August at the age of seventy-two. As a devoted servant and friend, she was the principal heir of the Henderson estate and continued to live on Henderson’s Riverside Drive property until the time of her passing. From the time of Henderson’s July 1951 death until her own, Rosie maintained the Henderson house and studio essentially in their original c. 1951 condition.[93]
1985–1986 Included in Three Pioneers: Inglis Sheldon-Williams, Augustus Kenderdine and James Henderson, organized and circulated by the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery. This exhibition was significant in that it toured to thirteen venues in North Dakota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon from January 1985 to September 1986. Eight Henderson paintings from the MacKenzie Gallery’s collection were among the twenty paintings featured, which included six from each of Sheldon-Williams and Kenderdine.[94]
2002–2003 Included in Qu’Appelle: Tales of Two Valleys, a major exhibition organized by the Mendel Art Gallery and presented in Saskatoon, Regina, and Kleinburg, Ontario. A total of thirty-five Henderson landscapes and portraits were featured, including a large number from private collections that had not been viewed publicly for many years.[95]
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[1] The date of Henderson’s birth is widely recorded. The details of his parents and his place of birth are attributed to London researcher Brigid Ward’s research notes attached to 13 March 2009 email to Mendel Gallery’s chief curator Dan Ring. Subsequent online review of the 1861, 1881, and 1891 Scottish census records revealed additional details of the Henderson family, particularly the residence addresses, names, and ages of the occupants:
1861 Head: Christina Henderson, 32, wife of a merchant seaman, resident on Bank Street, Kincardine, Perthshire. Other occupants were Margaret Henderson, 4; Janet Henderson, 2; and Margaret McAnish, 18. (McAnish is likely a misspelling of McAinsh, Christina Henderson’s family name, and Margaret is presumed to have been her sister.)
1881 James Henderson, son of Christina, listed as ‘scholar,’ 9; resident at 481 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire. Other occupants were Christina Henderson, 52; Maggie Henderson, 24; Janet Henderson, 21; and Christina Henderson, 17.
1891 Head: James Henderson, 62, sea captain (retired), resident at 461 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire. Other occupants were Christian [sic] (misspelling of Christina) 62; Maggie L. Henderson, 34; Jenny M. Henderson, 32; Christina Henderson, 28; and James Henderson, 19.
A variance between the 1881 and 1891 census records is noted in address numbers on St. Vincent Street, specifically 481 in 1881 and 461 in 1891. This may be attributable to either a typographical error or a slight relocation in address.
[2] The age of sixteen was standard for Scottish public school graduation at the time. This is corroborated in an undated essay in the Regina Public Library’s Prairie History Room, titled “James Henderson, 1871–1951” by J. S. Wood, City Librarian, Saskatoon. (A copy in the Saskatchewan Provincial Legislative Library is dated January 1963.)
[3] Letter, 27 December 1923, from James Henderson to Eric Brown, Director of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The letter is filed in the National Gallery of Canada’s Library and Archives.
[4] The Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Research Centre for Archives and Collections’ records indicate that Henderson enrolled in February 1888 (17; occupation clerk); 1888–1889 (18; occupation apprentice lithographic draughtsman); and 1890–1891 (20; occupation lithographic draughtsman). In each instance his residence address is listed as 461 St. Vincent Street, as recorded in the 1891 census records.
[5] It is recorded in the Marriage Records of Scotland for 1900, “after Banns according to the forms of the Church of Scotland, James Henderson aged 28, Lithographic Artist (Master), bachelor of 70 Shaftsbury Road, Ravenscourt Park, London, son of James Henderson, Master Mariner (deceased) and Christina Henderson, m.s. McAinsh; and Jeannie Lang, aged 29, spinster of 21 Minerva Street, Glasgow, daughter of John Lang, Machinery Merchant (deceased) and Annie Lang, m.s Shaw. Minister J. Elder Cumming, Witnesses Charles Forbes and Christina Henderson.” This information is contained in email correspondence dated 2 October 2006 and 18 May 2009 between Henderson’s nephew Douglas Ramsay of Calgary and Mendel Gallery chief curator Dan Ring. Although witness Christina Henderson may have been James’ mother, it seems more likely that it was his older sister.
[6] Letter, Henderson to Brown, 27 December 1923.
[7] Ibid.
In an article titled “The Indian in Art” in The Maple Leaf, October 1924 (page unknown), and a virtually identical article in the Bloor Gazette, Toronto, 12 September 1925 (title and page unknown), author Austin Bothwell stated that “J. J. Shannon took an interest in him and his advice helped; it was, in effect, paint and learn by painting, advice which has been followed to good purpose.” (American-born James Jebusa Shannon (1862–1923) was a noted late-nineteenth/early-twentieth century London-based portrait painter.)
[8] Letter, Henderson to Brown, 27 December 1923.
[9] New English Art Club, Old Mill Near Watford, catalogue entry 86, 1909.
There are also recorded references to Henderson having been active during this period in the design of theatrical posters(a) and stage scenery.(b)
(a) “Henderson’s Paintings to be Exhibited,” Regina Leader-Post, 17 October 1936.
(b) Arthur Hayworth, “James Henderson of the Qu’Appelle Valley,” Saskatchewan History XI, no. 2 (Spring 1958): 60.
[10] Letter, Henderson to Brown, 27 December 1923.
[11] Uncertainty has surrounded the date of the Hendersons’ arrival in Canada, which has been variously recorded as initially arriving in Winnipeg in 1909 and relocating to Regina in 1910. (See John Hawkes, The Story of Saskatchewan and its People II (Chicago and Regina: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1924), 1280; and Arthur Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 60, for typical examples.) However, as a result of research conducted in Winnipeg on 23–24 June 2009 by Dan Ring, it was concluded that references to a 1909 arrival and sojourn in Winnipeg have been erroneous. (The validity of the 1910 arrival was later confirmed through the ancestrylibrary.com record of the Hendersons’ August 1934 to June 1935 return visit to Scotland. See note 62.) Regardless, although Henderson was a Regina resident, it appears that he enjoyed and benefited from both commercial and artistic interaction between the two cities’ business and creative communities. Two examples are his watercolour and gouache production for colour covers of The Trail from 1910 to 1911 (initially in Regina and then Winnipeg, following its relocation) and participation in the May 1912 Manitoba Society of Arts & Crafts exhibition (see note 14).
[12] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 60.
[13] The source of the announcement of Henderson as the winner of the cover design prize is an unattributed and undated newspaper clipping in the Mendel Gallery’s Henderson archival file. Henderson is described as “a recent arrival in the city from London, England.” The actual title of the publication was Official Souvenir of Regina, Capital of Saskatchewan, and dated 1911. Regina’s industrial commissioner T. W. Sheffield was cited as its compiler, both in the announcement and the publication.
[14] Catalogue, First Exhibition of Work by Manitoba Artists Exclusively (Winnipeg: Manitoba Society of Arts & Crafts and Western Art Association, 1912). Henderson exhibited three watercolours: catalogue entry 144 Off to the Homestead; entry 148 Portrait; and entry 153 Main St., Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Free Press’ Vandyke Brown reported that “watercolours by J. Henderson are among those which deserve attention” (Winnipeg Free Press, 25 May 1912).
[15] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 60, regarding portraits of Edward VII, Richardson, and Brown; “Duplicate Art Production has Justices Wondering,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 28 November 1964; and, “Clues to Dual Portrait Mystery Uncovered,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 25 January 1965, regarding the dates of the Province of Saskatchewan’s public works department portrait commissions of the Hon. Hugh Richardson.
The Henderson portraits listed in Catalogue of Historical Paintings (in the Saskatchewan Legislative Building), Legislative Library, Regina 1963, are:
– “Edward the Seventh”
King of the British Dominions, 1901–1910
– “Hon. Hugh Richardson”
Member of the Northwest Territorial Council, 1876–1887
Chief Justice, Northwest Territories, 1887–1901
– “Hon. Robert Menzies Mitchell”
Speaker of Saskatchewan, 1917–1919
– “Hon. George Adam Scott”
Speaker of Saskatchewan, 1919–1925
The Legislative Library also has an Indian portrait titled The Hunter.
[16] Hayworth, “James Henderson”, 60; and John Hawkes, Story of Saskatchewan, 1280.
[17] The Memorandum of Association stated authorized capital of $6,000 through the issuance of 400 shares at $15.00 per share. The incomplete Articles of Association, Memorandum of Association and the By-Laws (all dated 29 November 1920), together with miscellaneous and generally undated documents, are contained in a binder of historical documents owned by Echo Ridge Golf Course Inc., Fort Qu’Appelle.
[18] “Fine Oil Painting Secures Place on Courthouse Wall,” The Post (Regina), 31 January 1921.
[19] “Painting of King Edward for House,” The Star (Saskatoon), 21 April 1922.
The report concludes, “Within the next few months a portrait of His Majesty, King George V, will be given a place of honor in the Chamber also. Mr. Henderson will commence work on this canvas at an early date.”
[20] “A Remarkable Portrait of ‘Bull Bear’ by Mr. James Henderson,” Saturday Night, 17 March 1923.
This portrait, actually titled Kay-ina Bull Bear Blackfoot, is now in the collection of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary.
[21] “Artist Devotes Genius to Depicting Types of Old Indian Features,” Victoria Daily Times, 19 March 1923.
This revealing article states “[Henderson] took up his residence at Fort Qu’Appelle on account of the natural beauty of the Qu’Appelle Valley, the historic associations connected with the old Hudson’s Bay fort and the number of Indian reserves close by, on one of which reside the band of Sioux Indians who took refuge in Canada under the chieftainship of Standing Buffalo, son of the notorious Sitting Bull, after the Custer massacre. Up till [sic] the time of his death a year ago(c) Standing Buffalo sat for several portraits to [sic] his friend ‘Good Painter’ and a number of these portraits are now owned in the United States.”
(c) Standing Buffalo died on 21 July 1921, according to “Alec is the Last of the Buffaloes,” Leader-Post (Regina), 15 April 1983.
Also included is the statement “It is his ambition to obtain (portrait) subjects along his line from as many sources as possible, and before leaving the Coast he will probably visit Cowichan Reserve where there are said to be a number of models of the kind he is seeking.” The quotation was repeated in an adaptation of the Daily Times article in ‘Brush of James Henderson, of Fort Qu’Appelle, Catches Features of Generation of Red Men Rapidly Passing Away—Alberta Indians Among Subjects’ in the Edmonton Journal, 31 March 1923. The latter quotation continued, “Later on he proposes to study types to be found in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. He proposes visiting Edmonton and will proceed north to the lower Peace and Upper Mackenzie, studying Indians in the neighborhood of Fort Vermillion and other northern points.” There is no known record that the Cowichan Reserve was visited, or that the visits were made to northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
[22] “Artist Interprets Tragedy of Red Man,” Victoria Daily Colonist, 7 April 1923.
[23] Catalogue, Canadian Section of Fine Arts, British Empire Exhibition (London: National Gallery of Canada, London, 1924), catalogue entry 89. The portrait Sioux Indian was on loan from Norman Mackenzie, K.C., Regina; it was illustrated in A Portfolio of Pictures from the Canadian Section of Fine Arts, British Empire Exhibition (London: National Gallery of Canada, 1924).
In 27 October 1924 letter in the National Gallery’s Archives, gallery director Eric Brown requested Henderson’s willingness to allow the painting to also be displayed with the Canadian Art Section at five additional public British galleries following the exhibition’s 31 October 1924 closing. The tour included Leicester, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, and Birmingham, with an exhibition period of one month at each venue.
[24] Catalogue, Exhibition of Paintings by James Henderson (Regina: Local Council of Women’s Art Committee, 1924). The catalogue listed forty-two paintings. However, a contemporary newspaper editorial, “Saskatchewan on Canvas” (publication, date, and page unknown) stated, “Over fifty of his landscapes and Indian portraits have been assembled.”
[25] “Famous Western Painter Brings Canvases Here for Three-Day Exhibit,” Saskatoon Daily Star, 6 November 1924. Although it was reported that forty landscapes and eleven Indian portraits were included, this appears to have been essentially the same assembly of works shown the previous week in Regina. The common titles cited were The Coulee Trail; Early Morning; The Creek in Winter; Winter in the Valley; Winter, Qu’Appelle Valley; Open Water, January 1924; Autumn Hillsides; and The Hill Road.
[26] During the fall of 1924, University of Saskatchewan president Walter C. Murray (1866–1945) proposed an exhibition of contemporary Saskatchewan art to J. Burgon Bickersteth, warden of the University of Toronto’s Hart House. In consultation with fellow Saskatchewan art advocate and patron, Norman Mackenzie, Murray selected the artists and assembled the paintings. The exhibition Artists of Saskatchewan was significant in that this was only the second time that a selection of artworks from non-University of Toronto sources had been exhibited at Hart House. (Source: David R. Murray and Robert A. Murray, The Prairie Builder (Walter Murray of Saskatchewan), (Edmonton: NeWest Publishers Limited, 1984), 170.)
Catalogue, Artists of Saskatchewan (Toronto: University of Toronto (Hart House), 1925. Dr. Murray provided the catalogue’s notes and the Henderson paintings were entries 1–8. The eight Henderson paintings exhibited were: A Glimpse of the Lake (lent by Mrs. Susan MacLean);d) Open Water (lent by University of Saskatchewan); The Top of the Hill (lent by George H. Barr), Moonlight (lent by George H. Barr); Morning Sunshine (lent by U of S); Raw Eater (lent by Ernest E. Poole);(d) Portrait of Weasel Calf —noted as ‘Last of the Chiefs who signed the Treaty of 1875’—(lent by U of S); and, Portrait of Grizzly Bear—noted as ‘Sioux Chief who took part in the attack on General Custer’—(lent by Mrs. Christina Murray). In addition to Henderson, the artists featured were Harriette Keating (3), Augustus Kenderdine (8), Frederick Loveroff (2), David Payne (2), Inglis Sheldon-Williams (1), and Emile Walters (1).
(d) A contradiction in titles is noted between Dr. Murray’s notes and the actual catalogue entries for the works loaned by Susan MacLean (spouse of noted collector and Henderson supporter, Dr. Hugh MacLean) and Ernest E. Poole respectively. Murray’s notes cite the title of Mrs. MacLean’s painting as The Two Lakes, whereas the catalogue states A Glimpse of the Lake (both titles were listed in the catalogue for Henderson’s late-1924 solo exhibition at Regina College). Murray’s notes cite the title of Mr. Poole’s painting as Looking Backward, whereas the catalogue entry states Raw Eater. (A painting titled Looking Back—Blackfoot Indian was listed in the catalogue for the 1924 Regina College Exhibition, and the title Raw Eater was cited in previously referenced articles in the 19 March 1923 Victoria Daily Times and 7 April 1923 Victoria Daily Colonist.)
[27] Catalogue of Pictures (in the Private Collection of Norman Mackenzie, Esq., K.C.), (Regina: University Women’s Club, 1925), 34. The catalogue’s Henderson entry numbers and titles were:
64. Portrait of Sioux Warrior, oil, 30 x 24 in. [one of the men in the Custer Massacre under Sitting Bull]. On exhibition at Wembley, 1924.(e)
65. Head of Indian Warrior, oil, 30 x 24 in.
66. Birches, Woodland Scene, oil, 24 x 18 in.
67. Portrait of Jumping Horse, oil, 16 x 14 in. [one of Sitting Bull’s men in the Custer Massacre].
68. Prairie Scene with Clouds, oil, 16 x 14 in.
69. Portrait of Blackfoot Indian, oil, 24 x 18 in.
70. Portrait of Blackfoot Indian (Grizzly Bear), oil, 24 x 18 in.
71. Qu’Appelle Valley, Woodland Scene, oil, 10 x 8 in.
72. Portrait of Blackfoot Indian in Red Blanket, oil, 30 x 24 in.
73. Large Portrait of ‘Sitting Bull’, oil, 30 x 24 in.
74. Indian Madonna and Child, oil, 30 x 24 in.
75. Portrait of Blackfoot Indian (Senator), oil, 30 x 24 in.
76. Head of Sarcee Chief, watercolour, 7 x 5 1/2 in.
77. Indian Head of Savage, oil, 30 x 24 in.
Of the fourteen works listed, it is interesting to note that eleven of them were Indian portraits. Notably, the catalogue’s narrative is the first known recorded citation of Henderson’s honorary Sioux title Wiciteowapi Wicasa [sic], ‘the man who paints the old men.’
(e) The title cited was simply Sioux Indian when exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London.
[28] “Wonderful Art Collection to be On Display: Public to See Norman Mackenzie’s Rare Paintings in their Home Settings,” Regina Morning Leader, 17 April 1925. Among many other things, the article stated, “The exhibit represents… one of the finest art collections in the Dominion of Canada. The collection includes examples of work of some of the best known of the early masters whose paintings have earned them undying fame, in addition to more modern paintings of British, American and Canadian schools…. Mr. Mackenzie’s great interest in the field of Canadian art is revealed in the fact that 45 pictures by Canadian artists are included in his collection. Paintings by James Henderson, Archibald Browne, A. Harold, Inglis Sheldon-Williams, David Payne, Harriette Keating, Frederick Bell-Smith, Homer Watson, and others, hang close to the work of other countries, and form by no means the least interesting part of the collection.”
[29] Catalogue, Canadian Section of Fine Arts, British Empire Exhibition (London: National Gallery of Canada, 1925). The portrait Weasel Calf, Blackfoot Indian was on loan from Ernest Poole, Esq., Regina.
[30] Newton MacTavish, M.A., The Fine Arts in Canada (Toronto: The MacMillan Company of Canada, 1925). Sioux Indian was from the collection of Norman Mackenzie and was the portrait exhibited at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London.
[31] Although never specific, it has long been anecdotally known that Jean Henderson suffered from a debilitating illness that ultimately left her wheelchair-bound or bedridden for extended periods of time. In a 31 July 1925 letter to Henderson, Walter C. Murray wrote, “I hope that Mrs. Henderson is enjoying good health….” thus perhaps implying that she was experiencing a negative health condition. In response, 3 August 1925, Henderson wrote, “I am getting into working form again as the result of Mrs. Henderson’s improved condition, although still weak she makes steady progress towards complete recovery.” (Source: University of Saskatchewan Archives’ Walter C. Murray correspondence.)
[32] Lynne S. Bell, ed., University of Saskatchewan, Permanent Art Collection 1980 (Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, 1980), 84–85; and David R. Murray and Robert A. Murray, Prairie Builder, 170. Both sources record that because of Mr. and Mrs. Henderson’s ill health and some of the portraits being purchased by other parties, only nine portraits of the twelve commissioned in 1925 were acquired. The biography of Walter Murray states that “After receiving a number of paintings in 1929, Murray voluntarily offered an increased price because ‘they so far surpassed our expectations’.” (Ibid., 170, 250n43, re 3 May 1929 letter from Murray to Henderson.) The offer of an increased price was suggestive of why some paintings were sold to other parties in the interim.
Indeed, in 24 January 1929 response to 16 January 1929 letter from Murray, Henderson wrote “Have had quite a number completed but either I wasn’t satisfied or someone would just insist on getting the one they liked, consequently little progress has been made in getting anything important through to you—the picture the National Gallery purchased (i.e., Shot in Both Sides) was intended for the University but I felt sure that you would not mind it hanging in Ottawa….” In 30 April 1929 letter to Murray advising that the university’s portraits of Heavy Shield and Bear’s Paw had been shipped (the sixth and seventh portraits delivered), Henderson concluded by saying “Have several others for you well advanced….”
In letter to Henderson, 3 May 1929, the Murray quote introduced above fully stated was, “We made an agreement about a rate of payment for them to you, but they so far surpassed our expectations that I think we should be quite willing to give you a larger price for each picture. What are you accustomed to getting for such pictures?” In his 7 May 1929 response to Murray, Henderson wrote, “I am anxious to give the University of Saskatchewan of my best work and for that reason have not hurried the completion of the commissions or allowed the consideration of price to influence me and interfere with the work. I want very much to make it perfectly clear that it will not make the slightest difference to my effort to give the University the best that I can do even if you cannot see your way to make me any further allowance on each picture. I am of course fully alive to the fact that the price I arranged for was too little and will of course be pleased to accept more—as a matter of fact I am getting $400 to $500 for my Indian portraits—but there are twelve of them to paint altogether and you very kindly helped with my expenses. So whatever you can do I will kindly accept.”
In 31 May letter 1930 to Murray advising of the shipment of Sioux Woman & Papoose and Sun Walking, Henderson also stated “I have one or two other studies which I intended sending you now but think it better to leave them until I return from the East and I will then see them with a fresh eye.” Henderson followed-up with a 21 July 1930 letter in which he wrote “Thanks very much for your letter of June 16th enclosing cheque for $900.00 for the two Indian pictures. I have several others on hand & shall send them to you before long—they are very interesting types & make good pictures artistically.” (Source: University of Saskatchewan Archives’ Walter C. Murray correspondence.) The two portraits, the eighth and ninth delivered, were actually the final portraits received by the University, and represented a default by Henderson in fulfillment of the 1925 twelve portrait commission. (See notes 45 and 51 for complementary details.)
Lynne Bell’s University of Saskatchewan, Permanent Art Collection compilation includes nine portraits and five landscapes, whereas the Murray biography states that fifteen Hendersons are in the university’s Collection (170).
[33] “Canadian Artist Returns on Visit,” Daily Colonist, Victoria, (date and page unknown, but 1925 is inferred from the reference to the portrait of Weasel Calf “shown this year at Wembley”.) The article stated that, “three or four years ago [i.e., 1921 or 1922], he spent a holiday here and held a small exhibition of his paintings, which introduced his work to art lovers of the city. At that time, three (Blackfoot) Indian portraits were exhibited: Weasel Cap [sic], Old Blackfoot Warrior, and The Last of His Race.” With the exception of Weasel Calf (although it may have been an alternate version), this is a different selection to that reported for the 1923 Victoria visit, thus suggesting an earlier date.(f) The article continued, “Mr. Henderson was interested in Victoria’s latest enterprise, the loan exhibition at the Crystal Garden gallery, in which two of his Indian portraits are shown.”
(f) It is speculated that the Daily Colonist reporter may have taken license, and the earlier date reference actually pertained to the well-documented March-April 1923 visit. As such, given the repeated presence of the portrait of Weasel Calf, the article‘s reference to Blackfoot portraits titled Old Blackfoot Warrior and The Last of his Race may actually have pertained to the portraits of Many Shots and Raw Eater cited in the 1923 articles.
In addition to the portrait of Weasel Calf from the collection of Ernest E. Poole exhibited at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London, there are also portraits of Weasel Calf in the collections of the University of Saskatchewan and the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
[34] Catalogue, Special Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1926), catalogue entry 60. The portrait Sioux Indian (size not stated) was offered for sale for $500.
[35] The source of this entry was an unattributed handwritten summary titled “James Henderson—Exhibition History” in the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s archives. The portrait of Weasel Calf, Blackfoot Chief, from the collection of Ernest Poole, had been exhibited at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition in London. Its 1926 appearance thereafter in Manchester (catalogue entry 166 thereat) is inferred to have been under a program similar to that arranged by the National Gallery of Canada’s director Eric Brown, whereby the Canadian paintings in the 1924 British Empire Exhibition were subsequently circulated among five British venues in 1924–25 (see note 23).
[36] “Henderson Work Takes New Form (Rocky Mountain Views Displace Usual Prairie and Qu’Appelle Valley Scenes),” Morning Leader (Regina), 4 November 1926.
Uncertainty surrounds Henderson’s 1926 painting in Alberta and British Columbia. It has been reported anecdotally that Henderson made the trip to the Sooke River Canyon accompanied by acclaimed Group of Seven co-founder A. Y. (Alexander Young) Jackson (1882–1974). However, in A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A. Y. Jackson, (Clarke Irwin & Co.; Toronto, 1958 (revised 1967), 109), Jackson wrote, “In 1926 Marius Barbeau went West again and arranged that [fellow Group of Seven member] Edwin Holgate and I should accompany him to Skeena River.” Despite being in western Canada, there isn’t even passing reference to Jackson having been in southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, or British Columbia before or after the visit to British Columbia’s Skeena River country. However, there is peripheral evidence that Henderson and Jackson were acquainted and perhaps worked together, since a number of Jackson’s distinctive colour-notationed pencil-sketches on pulp paper signed ‘AYJ’ or ‘AY Jackson‘ survive that were reportedly removed from Henderson’s studio.
[37] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1927). The catalogue entries skip from 95, Henri Hebert, RCA, to 96, Frank Hennessey. Although this was reported as the first ‘annual’ versus ‘special’ exhibition as it was titled in 1926, the latter appears to have ultimately been deemed as the actual genesis of the National Gallery’s annual exhibition series.
[38] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1928), catalogue entries 66–72. The oil paintings exhibited were The Qu’Appelle Valley; Portrait of Sioux Indian (lent by Dr. Urban Gareau, Regina); Ohu-Cree (lent by Norman Mackenzie, Esq., Regina); Raw Eater, Blackfoot Indian Chief (lent by Norman Mackenzie, Esq., Regina); portrait of Two Young Men, Stoney Indian, Morley, Alberta; portrait of Big Darkness, Assiniboine Indian, Sintaluta, Saskatchewan; and portrait of Chief Shot in Both Sides, Blood Indian, Cardston, Alberta.
[39] This portrait has been repeatedly referenced in stories about Henderson. In 13 January 1928 letter to Henderson (a copy of which is in the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s archives), introducing several reasons why he thought it appropriate at the time, Mackenzie wrote, “As a slight appreciation of the friendship which has existed between us for some years… ” and confirmed the gift to Henderson. Mackenzie concluded the letter by stating, “The picture is, as you will see, a portion of a larger painting. The general opinion is that it is by Rubens and I have been able to find no one who could attribute it to anyone else. If anyone did it would no doubt be attributed to an artist of equal standing, as the portrait and painting of it speak for itself.”
Mackenzie’s statements are surprising since, in the 1925 catalogue of Mackenzie’s extensive collection, the painting had been listed as ‘Attributed to Rubens.’ Reference: Catalogue of Pictures (in the Private Collection of Norman Mackenzie, Esq., K.C.), compiled by the University Women’s Club, Regina, 1925, catalogue entry 10.
[40] “Henderson’s Picture for the National Gallery,” Regina Daily Post, 2 June 1928. This portrait had been featured in the Gallery’s Annual Exhibition earlier in the year. At that time, however, it was properly referred to by the Gallery’s title Shot in Both Sides, a Blood Indian from Cardston, Alberta. The Daily Post article incorrectly referred to Shot in Both Sides as a Blackfoot Indian. The error was compounded in Hayworth’s “James Henderson of the Qu’Appelle Valley,” wherein Shot in Both Sides is described as being a Sioux Indian (Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 63).
There are at least two other Henderson portraits of the subject, including one in the Glenbow Museum (Calgary) collection titled Chief Shot on Both Sides, Head Chief of the Bloods. According to references in the Glenbow Museum Library’s Henderson file (and published in exhibition catalogue Portraits of the Indians (Calgary: McClelland and Stewart West, 1974), 4), “Shot Both Sides was a son of Crop Eared Wolf and a grandson of Red Crow, both of whom were Head Chiefs of the Blood tribe and leaders of the Fish Eaters band. Shot Both Sides became Head Chief of the Bloods in 1913, and a leader of the Fish Eaters Band, positions he occupied until his death in 1956. He was known for his wisdom as a diplomat and for his ability to rise above local and domestic quarrels.”
[41] Inferred from an inscription on reverse of 14 x 11 in. oil on panel titled Much Love (a.k.a. Squaw & Papoose), Mendel Art Gallery, (An Exhibition of Paintings by James Henderson 1871–1951, catalogue entry 39). The painting appears to have been a gift from Henderson to housekeeper Rosie Riess (1910–1982) to commemorate twenty years of service to and residency at the Henderson household. The complete inscription, in Rosie’s printing, reads “June 8, 1928–June 8, 1948. ‘Happy years spent with him’. Painted this sketch for me. (Rosie Riess). ’Sketched when his eye sight failed.’ R.R.”
[42] Rosie Riess was from an immigrant farm family, whose economic circumstances required her departure at an early age to serve as a housekeeper for the Hendersons’ neighbours, the Jack and Ellen Hamilton family. In an undated June 1979 letter to James Lanigan she wrote, “I have been in Fort Qu’Appelle since I was 13 years. I worked at Hamiltons place for 4 years. Then I came here. I was 16 [sic] and here I am. Can’t say no more.” Considering her young age of beginning active employment, it is not surprising that Rosie may have lacked certain basic life skills.
[43] Anecdotal information gathered from five letters dated from 12 December 1978 to March (no date) 1980 from Rosie (Riess) Weinzierl to James Lanigan, and recollections from four personal visits to Rosie Weinzierl by James Lanigan from September 1979 to April 1982.
[44] “Eighty Paintings Make Up Attractive Fair Collection,” The Leader (Regina), 31 July 1928. Henderson’s ’nine or ten pictures’ included Silent Places (loaned by the Local Council of Women), Approaching Storm, and Sunset Glow (Victoria Harbour). There was also a reference to the inclusion of some ‘Indian heads.’
[45] In 24 January 1929 response to 16 January 1929 letter from Walter C. Murray inquiring both about the progress of the university’s 1925 Indian portraits’ commission and a proposed portrait of Chancellor Sir Frederick Haultain, among other things Henderson advised, “I have not been able to reply until today having been in bed with my prevalent malady….” (Source: University of Saskatchewan Archives’ Walter C. Murray correspondence.) The reference to a ‘prevalent malady’ was a portent of things to come.
[46] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1929), catalogue entries 64–66. The oil paintings exhibited were Indian Mother and Child (lent by Hon. T. C. Davis, Regina); Portrait of Chief “Bear’s Paw”—Stoney Indian (lent by Mrs. Lorne Johnson, Regina); and In the Qu’Appelle Valley (lent by Regina College, Regina).
[47] Manitoba Society of Artists 1929 Exhibition, held from 23 March to 13 April at the Society’s Gallery at 330 Main Street in Winnipeg. The painting exhibited was Sunset Glow, which was offered for sale for $100. (Source: information received from the Winnipeg Art Gallery and relayed to James Lanigan in email, 10 September 2009, from Toronto researcher Dylanne Dearborn.)
[48] “James Henderson’s Indian Paintings are Outstanding,” Regina Morning Leader, 30 September 1929. In addition to Indian portrait Pipe Dreams (catalogue entry 59), four landscapes are also referenced: Last of the Snow; Spring; Valley, Fort Qu’Appelle; and, Hill Side, Qu’Appelle Valley.
[49] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1930), catalogue entries 71–73. The oil paintings exhibited were Pipe Dreams; Indian Squaw and Papoose; and Afternoon in the Coulee.
It was noted in “National Art Gallery Buys New Henderson Painting: Valley Scene,” The Leader (Regina), 1 March 1930, that “Of the 170 paintings shown in the Golden Jubilee (of the National Gallery) exhibition at Ottawa, three are by Mr. Henderson. This fact seems especially significant when it is seen from a perusal of the catalogue that only a few of the artists are represented by more than two works and many by only one.”
[50] “National Art Gallery Buys New Henderson Painting: Valley Scene,” The Leader (Regina), 1 March 1930; and J. S. Base, “Afternoon in the Coulee by Qu’Appelle Artist Held Outstanding in Canadian Art,” Regina Daily Post, 29 March 1930. This was the second Henderson painting acquired by the National Gallery, following the acquisition of portrait Shot in Both Sides in 1928.
[51] In 16 January 1929 letter to Henderson, Walter Murray enquired, “How are you getting on with the (1925 Indian portraits’ commission) pictures you were preparing for us?… I suppose nothing more has been done with regard to the painting of (University Chancellor) Sir Frederick Haultain… Sir Frederick’s health is failing and we are most anxious to have a portrait of him.” On 24 January 1929, Henderson replied, “… as regards the portrait of Sir Frederick Haultain I had made up my mind to let nothing interfere with my painting it this summer.” Fifteen months later, in 26 April 1930 letter to Henderson, Murray followed-up by stating “We are planning, as you know, to erect a new Arts building and are to call it Haultain Hall. We hope to have in it a portrait of the Chancellor. I know you would paint an excellent portrait if you undertook it and he is quite willing to sit for you at such times as may be mutually convenient. I would like it to be one of the best in the university and I am sure that you would give us one if you were willing to undertake the task.” In his 1 May 1930 response to Murray, Henderson wrote, “With regard to the portrait of Chief Justice Haultain I just do not know what to say. To say I feel guilty in this matter would hardly describe my state of mind—but to be perfectly honest I seem to have been suffering from loss of nerve for some considerable time. I just have not had the courage to start it—indeed for this last year or two it has been quite an effort for me to do anything and feel satisfied.” (Source: University of Saskatchewan Archives’ Walter C. Murray correspondence.)
Henderson was presumably experiencing a state of depression and was very clearly suffering from a lack of self-confidence, at least with regard to painting portraits. (It can be speculated that his state of mind may have been influenced, at least in part, by concern over Jean Henderson’s continuing health problems.) However, during this time he is believed to have been still prolifically painting landscapes, which he likely found less exacting and therefore less demanding than portraits. Indeed, it is believed that he painted relatively few of the latter after c.1932. It is noted that the portrait of Chancellor Haultain was ultimately executed in 1934 by the university’s Augustus F. Kenderdine (oil, 45 x 30 in.), thus Henderson obviously demonstrated a continuing disability to undertake the assignment. It was probably just as well as, in the writer’s opinion, the later portraits tended to be only shadows of their former greatness and rarely exhibited even a glimpse of the ‘spirit of personality’ so expertly depicted in many of the earlier works. As such, by the early-to-mid-1930s, the portraits were often garishly coloured or sometimes two-dimensional cartoon-like depictions, which were severely inferior to his mid-to-late-1920s work. (See notes 32 and 45 for complementary details.)
[52] In 31 May 1930 letter to Walter Murray, Henderson advised that “I’m leaving this afternoon for the East & will probably be away a month. Hope to get some good sketches and return in better health.” On 21 July 1930, Henderson wrote again to Dr. Murray and stated “I will probably feel [the] benefit of my visit to Muskoka later, although I was real sick most of the time–and it rained nearly every day. With it all I managed to get some good work done.” (Source: University of Saskatchewan Archives’ Walter C. Murray correspondence.)
[53] Catalogue of Fine Graphic and Applied Arts and Salon of Photography (Toronto: Canadian National Exhibition, 1930), 16. The painting exhibited was Portrait of Many Shots, Blackfoot Indian (catalogue entry 73).
[54] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1931), catalogue entries 110–112. The oil paintings exhibited were Near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.; Late Afterglow; and Chief Big Darkness.
[55] Evelyn de R. McMann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, formerly Art Association of Montreal: Spring Exhibitions 1880–1970 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988), 171. The painting was Near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask. (oil, 24 x 30 in., catalogue entry 122). This was subsequently purchased by Ernest E. Poole and ultimately donated to the Edmonton Art Galley, now the Art Gallery of Alberta.
[56] Catalogue, Seventh Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1932), catalogue entries 114–116. The oil paintings exhibited were The End of the Winter; Hill Tops, Qu’Appelle Valley; and Portrait of Cree Indian. (As noted in note 37, for this to have been the ‘seventh annual’ exhibition, this series actually started with the National Gallery’s ‘Special Exhibition of Canadian Art’ in 1926.
[57] McMann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: Spring Exhibitions. The two paintings, Near Fort Qu’Appelle (catalogue entry 118) and Winter, Qu’Appelle Valley (catalogue entry 119), were listed for sale at $350 and $250 respectively.
[58] Catalogue, All-Canadian Exhibition (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1932). This juried exhibition included 128 oil paintings, 65 watercolours, 31 etchings and prints, and 20 sculptures. (The members of the judging committee were Willie Dalton (chairman), H. A. Stone, H. Mortimer Lamb, J. W. G. MacDonald, G. L. Thornton Sharp, J. Vanderpant and W. P. Weston.) The two Henderson paintings exhibited were Portrait of Ohoo (catalogue entry 47) and Hilltops, Qu’Appelle Valley (catalogue entry 48).
[59] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 64. The painting had been exhibited in the National Gallery’s Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art earlier in the year. This was the third Henderson painting acquired by the National Gallery, following the acquisition of portrait Shot in Both Sides in 1928 and landscape Afternoon in the Coulee in 1930.
[60] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Canadian Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1933), catalogue entries 106–108. The oil paintings exhibited were Sunrise Glow, Qu’Appelle River; Winter Morning, Qu’Appelle Valley; and Glimpse of the Lake, Qu’Appelle Valley.
[61] Catalogue of American Painting, Canadian Painting & Sculpture, British Water Colours, Graphics & Applied Art Photography (Toronto: Canadian National Exhibition, 1933). The painting exhibited was Melting Snows, Qu’Appelle Valley (catalogue entry 107, $350).
[62] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 65, for citation of 1935. However, searches on both Ancestry.ca Library Editions Passenger List Index and findmypast.com’s Emigration List have confirmed that a James Henderson, traveling to Fort Qu’Appelle accompanied by Jeanie Henderson, was listed as being previously in Canada from 1910 to August 1934. They departed Glasgow (Greenock) aboard Canadian Pacific Steamships’ “Duchess of Richmond” on 29 June and arrived in Montreal on 6 July 1935.
It has been anecdotally reported that the Hendersons may have made one or more other return visits to Scotland. At the time of writing, however, the foregoing is the only recorded reference that has been confirmed. It is noted that James and Jean Henderson appear to have been common Scottish names, so caution has to be exercised in Internet-based searches. Both the subject James and Jean Henderson were born in 1871. Two other James Hendersons born in 1871, and travelling from Glasgow to Canada with a Jean Henderson, were investigated as strong possibilities. However, one James was a bindery worker and his companion Jeannie was 23 years younger; the other James was a mill worker and his companion Jean was 19 year younger.
[63] McMann, Evelyn de R. (Rostaing), Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (Exhibitions and Members, 1880–1979), (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981), 184. The landscapes exhibited were October in the Valley (catalogue entry 121) and The Creek in Winter (catalogue entry 122). Although Henderson was not a member of the RCA, membership was not a prerequisite to participation in its annual juried exhibitions.
[64] John Hawkes, Story of Saskatchewan, 1241; and Brenda Beckman-Long, The Original Mackenzie Bequest, (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1993), 1; and William A. Riddell, MacKenzie Art Galley (Norman Mackenzie’s Legacy), (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1990). (On p. 8 Riddell erroneously cites law partner G. W. Brown’s initials as ‘J. T.’ and states that Mackenzie came to Regina in 1893, not 1891.) As financial resources permitted, Mackenzie became a noted art collector and would serve as a trustee of the National Gallery of Canada from 1925 to 1935. In addition to being Henderson’s principal patron and advocate, Mackenzie also encouraged and supported the Saskatchewan careers of English-born Inglis Sheldon-Williams (1870–1940) and Augustus Kenderdine (1870–1947), as well as Saskatchewan’s first native-born artist, Illingworth (Buck) Kerr (1905–1989), among others. Mackenzie’s greatest legacy was his collection and the financial bequest he left with the stipulation that it be applied toward the formation of a public gallery at Regina College. That vision was fulfilled with the opening of the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery in 1953.
[65] Catalogue, Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Painting (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1936), catalogue entry 39. The full title of the catalogue includes ‘Arranged on Behalf of the Carnegie Corporation of New York for Circulation in the Southern Dominions of the British Empire.’
[66] Catalogue, The Sixty-Fourth Annual Exhibition (Toronto: The Ontario Society of Artists, 1936), 11. The paintings exhibited were Winter, Sunset Glow, (catalogue entry 103, 20 x 24 in., $150); and Coulee, Qu’Appelle Valley, Winter (catalogue entry 104, 24 x 30 in., $250). It has periodically been recorded that Henderson was a member of the OSA; however, he is not included among the deceased members listed in the History section of the Society’s Internet site. In a 9 July 2009 email to James Lanigan, following a review of the OSA fonds in the Archives of Ontario, researcher Dylanne Dearborn confirmed both that Henderson was not a member and membership was not a prerequisite to participation in the Society’s annual juried exhibitions. Indeed, Ms. Dearborn notes for the 1936 Exhibition: i) Entry forms sent: 410; ii) Entry forms received: 293; iii) Works submitted: 590; iv) Works accepted: 220; v) Works not accepted: 370, vi) Members exhibiting: 45, vii) Non-Members exhibiting: 110, viii) Works by members: 76; ix) Works by non-members: 144. The Selection Committee consisted of F. S. Haines, A. Barnes, A. Y. Jackson, George Pepper, and Owen Staples.
[67] McMann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts: Spring Exhibitions. The painting, Winter Glory, Qu’Appelle Valley (catalogue entry. 186), was offered for sale at $350.
[68] Catalogue, Exhibition of Paintings by James Henderson (Regina: Local Council of Women’s Art Committee, 1936). The catalogue listed sixty-five paintings. In opening the exhibition on the evening of 19 October, Premier William Patterson said, “We are fortunate in Saskatchewan in being able to claim Mr. Henderson whose fame as an artist is international. Mr. Henderson has put on canvas likenesses of many Indians in lasting manner and, in his beloved Qu’Appelle Valley, he has found spots comparing in beauty with famed places in other lands…. We thank and congratulate Mr. Henderson.” (‘Premier W. J. Patterson Opens Exhibition of Henderson Paintings’, The Leader-Post (Regina), 20 October 1936).
[69] “Paintings to be Shown at Exhibition”, The Leader-Post, (Regina), 23 July 1937.
[70] Catalogue, Exhibition of Paintings by Saskatchewan Artists (Regina: Local Council of Women’s Arts and Letters Committee, 1937), catalogue entries 57–63. The oil paintings exhibited were River Bank; Northern Breeze; Golden Hour; Winter; Hill Road; Valley Scene; and Promise of Spring.
[71] Lynne S. Bell, University Permanent Art Collection, 87, 90. The exhibition travelled from 15 December 1937 to 6 March 1938. The Henderson paintings included were the University of Saskatchewan’s landscape Winter; Qu’Appelle Valley; and portraits Weasel Calf and Squaw and Papoose.
[72] Catalogue, A Century of Canadian Art (London: Tate Gallery, 1938), 18. The painting listed as ‘Indian Portrait’ was actually titled Portrait of Sioux Indian, Chief Standing Buffalo; i.e., Julius Standing Buffalo (catalogue entry 93, 30 x 24 in.), loaned by Urban Gareau, Esq., M.D., of Regina; whereas, The End of Winter (catalogue entry 94, 24 x 30 in.) was loaned by the National Gallery of Canada.
[73] Catalogue, Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Saskatchewan Artists (Regina: Local Council of Women’s Arts and Letters Committee, 1939), catalogue entries 1–6. The oil paintings exhibited were Auroral Draperies; Road to the Lake; Late Afternoon; Glimpse of the Lake; A Valley Road; and Evening.
[74] “Prairie Artists Reveal Merit in Exhibit Here,” Calgary Herald, 16 December 1939. The article reported that an exhibition opened on 15 December in which “There are something over 60 paintings in the current exhibit, the preponderance of them by Augustus Kenderdine….” The article continued, “The other artists exhibiting are James Henderson, who confines himself almost entirely to painting Indian heads… ” implying that Henderson’s contributions were principally Indian portraits. Although further research would confirm that to be true, it was both surprising and unusual given Henderson’s recent years’ emphasis on landscapes as reflected in other exhibitions’ content. In addition to Henderson and Kenderdine, the other artists featured were Hilda Stewart and Fred Steiger.
Contained in the Vancouver Art Gallery archival files is a catalogue titled Four Saskatchewan Artists for an exhibition presented from 21 November to 10 December 1939. Despite there being only thirty-three paintings listed (far short of “something over 60” as reported by the Calgary Herald), the two appearances are clearly the same exhibition. Although the Vancouver Art Gallery is not specifically named, the time period predated the Calgary appearance by only several days, thus indicating a prior Vancouver appearance. Of the thirty-three paintings listed, three were by Fred Steiger, four were by Hilda Stewart, six were by Henderson and twenty were by Augustine (Gus) Kenderdine. Listed as catalogue entries 5–10, the six Hendersons were Rain-in-the-Face; Jumping Horse (Sioux Indian); Woodland Scene; Chief Weasel Calf; Cree Indian; and Gunny Crow (Blackfoot Indian). The sole landscape, Woodland Scene, was offered for sale for $200.
[75] During the 1930s, “We also showed the work of… James Henderson from the Qu’Appelle Valley…. ” G. Blair Laing, Memoirs of an Art Dealer 2 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982), 128. Founded in 1932, the business was actually called Mellors Fine Arts Ltd.; by 1940 it was known as Mellors-Laing and later simply Laing Galleries. G. Blair Laing, Memoirs of an Art Dealer (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979), 28–29.
The foregoing is significant as it is the only known recorded instance of Henderson selling his work through a commercial gallery. (His work was generally sold directly from his Fort Qu’Appelle studio, and some of the paintings shown in public exhibitions in which he participated were often also available for purchase.) Regrettably, it has not been possible to determine the number of times nor the actual date(s) that Henderson’s work was offered through Mellors or Mellors-Laing. There are two smaller works in the current exhibition framed by noted Toronto framers Hubbard and Son; a small untitled landscape (cat no. ???), and In the Qu’Appelle Valley, also known as Plowing with Oxen, Qu’Appelle Valley (cat no.???). It is speculated that these works may have been offered in a Mellors Fine Arts’ sale. The distinctive hand-carved Hubbard frames are a style commonly referred to as ‘Lawren Harris frames’, as they were preferred by Group of Seven co-founder Harris for framing his oil sketches and smaller works.
[76] Letter dated 24 January 1946 in the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s archives from the Saskatchewan Cancer Commission’s Regina Cancer Clinic director A. W. Blair, M.D. (after whom Regina’s Allan Blair Cancer Centre is named). The attached undated ‘form-letter’ response was from A. B. Simes, M.D., of Fort Qu’Appelle.
[77] The 24 October 1945 Regina Public Library Board minutes record that Chairman “(J. B.) Bagshaw… reported that the (Book) Committee had decided to write to Mr. James Henderson, of Fort Qu’Appelle, asking him if he would be coming to Regina in the near future, with his art, as the Library Board is desirous of purchasing another picture before the end of the current year.” The minutes of the 28 November 1945 meeting record Henderson’s response: “I am in receipt of your favour of the 17th inst. re pictures for the Library for which I thank you. At present I am busy on Fall pictures painted from Sketches and Studies made this year. Just as soon as I get them to my liking I will advise you and some arrangement could then be made for your Board seeing them.” The minutes for 18 September 1946 —approximately ten months later—record “The Committee reported that they had discussed the purchase of two landscape paintings from Mr. Henderson at a price of approximately $400.00 each. Moved by Mr. Pollard, seconded by Mr. Leslie and resolved that the pictures be purchased from Mr. Henderson.” In a 24 September 1946 letter to Henderson, chief librarian Chas. D. Kent wrote “… we are going to purchase the two pictures that Mr. Bagshaw and myself took such a delight in the day we visited you in your home.”
4 October 1946 letter to Henderson from A. J. Richardson (co-owner of Richardson Bros. Art Dealers of Winnipeg, Henderson’s supplier of art materials and frames) stated, “Thanks for your order for the two frames. They are on the way, and we hope to ship early next week. We have been held up because we could not get any of the raw moulding, but we got some two or three days ago. I am sorry that we can’t give you the metal leaf finish, as both the metal leaf and the necessary size for laying it on the wood are unprocurable, like so many other things. We will finish the frames in a tone as near as possible to the metal and hope they will suit your customer.” Richardson continued, “With reference to supplies, I am sorry to say that they are scarcer than ever. We still have a fair supply of Canadian oils, though many of the English colors are short. We have received a few bristle brushes from England, and they are disappearing very rapidly. No more canvas is coming in, and we have not a sheet of watercolour paper in stock. Aside from these shortages, things are perfectly normal.”
In a 10 December 1946 follow-up letter to Henderson, chief librarian Kent wrote, “Have you been able to locate suitable molding [sic] for our pictures yet? It must be quite a problem these days endeavouring to procure just what you want.” On 27 December 1946 Henderson responded to Kent, “Today… I am sending you a box containing the two pictures for the Library.… The frames are not similar as I thought the Autumn picture looked better in the frame you saw it in than the new one exactly like the Valley frame.… P.S…. if it is not asking too much would you mind sending (the box) back to me COLLECT, as it is next door to impossible to get good lumber to box anything in.” In a 14 January 1947 letter to Henderson, among other things, Kent stated, “By now you have probably received the wooden carton. It was no trouble for us to send this back to you.” This saga was concluded by a 14 January 1947 Leader-Post (Regina) item, which reported “Paintings Bought. Two paintings by Saskatchewan artist James Henderson have been purchased by the Regina Public Library. The pictures, Late October, Qu’Appelle Valley and Autumn, Qu’Appelle Valley have the brilliant colourings of fall landscape and the beauty of prairie skies.” (The foregoing titles are a slight variance from those stated on the paintings’ reverse sides, as the Library’s Dunlop Gallery records them as Late October and Autumn, Qu’Appelle Valley Coulee respectively.) It is noted that these two works were not the library’s final purchase from Henderson. The 23 November 1949 minutes record that “Mr. Bagshaw reported three pictures had been purchased for the Library, (including) Mackie Hill by Henderson, $350.00, from James Henderson, Fort Qu’Appelle. (Source: The Board minutes’ excerpts and letters cited are in the James Henderson file in the Prairie History Room at the Regina Public Library’s central branch.)
The foregoing indicates that late in his career, Henderson was challenged by art material shortages due to WW II supply priorities. Indeed, materials were obviously still scarce in late-1946 as the peacetime economy recovered from wartime rationing. It can be inferred from A. J. Richardson’s letter that Henderson had not regularly ordered materials for some time and that the order for the two frames was exceptional. (Richardson’s reference to non-availability of canvas also explains Henderson’s common use of masonite board for many of his late-career works.) It is reasonable to conclude that a combination of wartime material shortages, ill health, reportedly deteriorating eyesight and the passage of time (he would have been 75 years of age in 1946) had hampered and slowed Henderson’s artistic output.
[78] Dan Ring and Matthew Teitelbaum, From Regionalism to Abstraction: Mashel Teitelbaum and Saskatchewan Art in the 1940s (Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery, 1991), 12, 17 and 42; “Saskatchewan’s Own Artists Exhibit Work,” The Leader-Post, Regina, 6 November 1946; Jack Ferguson, “Saskatchewan Art Project,” Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 30 November 1946; and a series of letters from Teitelbaum to Henderson dated 9 October, 11 October and 16 December respectively (in the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s archives).
The Red Door Gallery, at 1924 Rose Street in Regina, was a combined business and community initiative undertaken by former Saskatoon artist Mashel Teitelbaum (1921–1985). The objective of the gallery was “to introduce Saskatchewan Art to a wider public in the Province, the Dominion and the United States.” The gallery operated only from October 1946 to March 1947. Teitelbaum had sought out Henderson while based in Lebret and painting in the Qu’Appelle Valley in the summers of 1945 and 1946. Based on that acquaintance, he requested Henderson’s support through provision of artworks for the gallery. The Leader-Post stated that in addition to The End of Winter, “other works by Mr. Henderson will be shown.” That does not appear to have been the case, as the 16 December 1946 letter from Teitelbaum to Henderson stated, “I wonder if you would consider loaning us one of your oils to take the place of The End of Winter as we had to return it to the National Gallery. People are asking to see your work.”
[79] Catalogue of Fine Arts Exhibit (The Art Galleries, Under the Grandstand, Exhibition Grounds, Regina), The Art Committee (Regina: Regina Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition Association Limited). The Henderson catalogue entries were 1 to 55; however, it is noted that entry 19 consisted of ten small Indian portrait oil sketches, for a total of 64 paintings.
[80] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 66. The University of Saskatchewan’s website indicates that the actual date was 11 May 1951. The doctoral gown was shipped to Henderson in Fort Qu’Appelle. It is anecdotally recorded that, upon being unwrapped by housekeeper (since 1928) Rosie Riess (1910–1982), Henderson remarked, “It looks fine!” Photographic documentation survives of Henderson posing in the gown in his side yard.
In addition, two portraits of a gowned Henderson are known, by Swiss-born friend and painter Ernest Luthi (1906–1983) of Punnichy, Saskatchewan. It is recorded in the University of Saskatchewan Permanent Art Collection 1980 Catalogue that one “was painted from a photograph after the subject’s death, c.1952. [It was] presented by Miss R. Riess, on behalf of the late Mr. J. Henderson, who had commissioned the work for the University of Saskatchewan, 1952.” (Lynne S. Bell, University of Saskatchewan, 155). The other portrait is believed to be privately held in an Alberta collection.
[81] “Prairie Artist, Henderson Dies,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 7 July 1951; “Famous Artist Passes Away,” The Times, (Fort Qu’Appelle), 19 July 1951.
[82] “Henderson of the Valley,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 10 July 1951; “Henderson Tribute,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 12 July 1951. The latter stated, “The present exhibit is a prelude to a mass exhibition to be held in November when over 100 of Henderson’s paintings will be displayed in the main gallery of the College.” A record has not been located to verify if the larger exhibition was actually held.
[83] Extracted from an undated one-page document titled “History of James Henderson LL.D. Chapter of IODE,” provided by Chapter Member Noreen Edwards of Regina.
[84] Hayworth, “James Henderson,” 59–66. In his opening paragraph, Hayworth stated, “It is hoped that some day a number of reproductions of his paintings, accompanied by an adequate biography, may be published in book form”. The purpose of the current catalogue has been to fulfill that objective.
[85] Grace E. Russell, “James Henderson… Artist of Fort Qu’Appelle,” The Western Producer (Saskatoon), 12 June 1958. This full-page illustrated article reports on a summer 1952 visit to Rosie Riess (erroneously referred to as ‘Rosa Reis’) and the Henderson home and studio, and provides an overview of Henderson’s career and reputation.
[86] “Duplicate Art Production has Justices Wondering,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 28 November 1964; “Clues to Dual Portrait Mystery Uncovered,” The Leader-Post (Regina), 25 January 1965. The latter reported that acting legislative librarian Allan Turner had ‘found two photographs of Judge Richardson, one bearing a likeness to the portrait now hanging and the other to the mystery portrait.’ Mr. Turner added that he had “a memo dated 4 February 1913 in which Premier Walter Scott commissioned Mr. Henderson to do a portrait of the judge ‘on approval’. Mr. Henderson was to get $250 ‘in any event’ and $400 if the result was deemed ‘good enough’ to hang in the Legislative Building. A memo in mid-summer signed by the Clerk of the Executive Council indicated that the government board which was to approve or disapprove of the painting had not yet met and there was no indication when (it) would meet. Henderson had delivered the portrait some two weeks earlier… (and) then made an application for the promised $250”.
“On July 31, 1913, Hon. J. A. Calder, Education Minister and Acting Premier, sent $200 to Henderson until such time as the portrait was approved. On 10 November 1913, Henderson received a cheque for $50. At this stage one can speculate that Henderson wanted his $250 ‘in any event’. On November 10, 1915, two years later to the day, a cheque for $250 was forwarded to Henderson, ‘being the balance due’. This gave Henderson $500 all told, or $100 more than the commissioned price. Was it possible that Henderson was forced to do a second painting of Judge Richardson and the extra $100 was to dull the edge of a dispute between the painter and government?” The Leader-Post report also stated “The painting taken out of storage is markedly different and much less impressive than the one hanging in the (legislative) building… There is no doubt that the man who was also legal advisor to the lieutenant-governor of the Territories and on the Territorial Supreme Court would prefer the portrait now on display rather than the cherubic-like man now resting in a public works department office”.
[87] No. 68 in the series, Saskatchewan Diamond Jubilee and Centennial Corporation, Regina, 1967.
[88] Catalogue, Painting In Saskatchewan, 1883–1959 (Regina: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1967). The oil paintings exhibited were Winter’s Garment 1936, (24 x 30 in.)g, (Untitled) Indian Portrait (10 x 8 in.), Chief Weasel Calf, Sioux (24 x 18 in.), Winter Landscape (24 x 30 in.), also known as Winter Glory, Qu’Appelle Valley, all from the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery Collection; and Qu’Appelle Valley 1915, (20 x 24 in.), from the Nutana Collegiate Collection, Saskatoon.
(g) This title is an anomaly, as this work’s title is normally referred to simply as Winter Landscape. It is speculated that this first encounter with the title Winter’s Garment may be confusion with the title of complementary work Winter Glory, Qu’Appelle Valley, also in the MacKenzie Art Gallery’s collection. Regardless, the former was listed and illustrated in Painting in Saskatchewan, 1883–1959 as Winter’s Garment.
[89] Catalogue, James Henderson 1871–1951, (Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery, 1969). The catalogue listed 110 paintings. (See List in Appendix ??). The works were organized or grouped by ownership (e.g., one owner loaned thirteen, another twelve, and yet another ten) and not, for example, by time period, style, theme, or subject matter. The catalogue did not include a comprehensive history of Henderson and his career. Most importantly, it lacked scholarship and critical analysis of the work itself, and did not reflect upon the significance or perspective of Henderson’s place in the annals of Canadian art history.
[90] Catalogue, Saskatchewan: Art and Artists (Regina: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1971). Over 200 works of art were featured. The Henderson paintings exhibited were Regina Beach (gouache, 28 x 37 in., lent by Muir Barber), Portrait of Mato-e-yanke, a Sioux Indian (30 x 24 in., Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery collection), Afternoon Sunshine (14 x 16 in., NMAG collection), Winter Glory, Qu’Appelle Valley (24 x 30 in., NMAG collection), Winter Landscape (24 x 30 in.; also known as Winter’s Garment, NMAG Collection), and Autumn, Qu’Appelle Valley Coulee (20 x 24 in., Regina Public Library Collection). The foregoing were catalogue entries 54–59.
[91] Catalogue, Grandmaison, Henderson and Kenderdine (Painters of the Prairies), (Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan, 1979). The paintings were all from the university’s collection and were listed in the unpaginated catalogue by their accession numbers. The exhibition was significant since it predated regular art programming by the university and was held to honour the 1979 Learned Societies Conference. It was presented in the Gordon Snelgrove Galley, which was normally reserved for display of the university’s art students’ works. The Henderson paintings exhibited represented the totality of the university’s Henderson Collection (see Lynne S. Bell, University of Saskatchewan, 84–90, for a complete listing).
[92] Catalogue, Scottish Painting in Canada (Halifax: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 1979), catalogue entry 10.
[93] Date of Mrs. Rosie (nee Riess) Weinzierl’s death stated in a 24 August 1982 note from her neighbour and friend Lena (Mrs. Norman) Grainger of Fort Qu’Appelle to James Lanigan.
[94] Catalogue, Three Pioneers: Inglis Sheldon-Williams, Augustus Kenderdine and James Henderson (Regina: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1984), 12 pages. The tour venues were (in schedule order): Swift Current (Saskatchewan) National Exhibition Centre; Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan) Art Museum; Castlegar (British Columbia) National Exhibition Centre; Art Gallery of the Whitehorse (Yukon) Public Library; Leaf Rapids (Manitoba) National Exhibition Centre; The Southern Alberta (Lethbridge) Art Gallery; Minot (North Dakota) Art Gallery; Langley (British Columbia) Centennial Museum and National Exhibition Centre; Penticton (British Columbia) Art Gallery; Peter Whyte Gallery (Banff, Alberta); St. Albert (Alberta) Museum; Medicine Hat (Alberta) Museum; and Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina.
The Henderson paintings were all from the MacKenzie Gallery’s collection and included: Sunset Glow/The Harbour (24 x 30 in.), Chief Weasel Calf—A Sioux (24 x 18 in.), Approaching Storm (24 x 30 in.), The Approaching Storm, Qu’Appelle Valley (12 x 14 in.), Muskoka Lake (12 x 14 in.), Winter’s Garment [sic—actually titled Winter Glory, Qu’Appelle Valley] (24 x 30 in.), The Lake (24 x 30 in.) and Winter Landscape (24 x 30 in.).
[95] Organized by the Mendel Gallery, Qu’Appelle: Tales of Two Valleys was presented at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, Ontario) from 2 March to 5 May 2002; Mendel Art Gallery from 14 June to 2 September 2002; and the MacKenzie Art Gallery from 27 September 2002 to 12 January 2003. Thirty-five Henderson paintings were featured, including thirty landscapes and five Indian portraits (catalogue entries 48–82). Indeed, so closely associated with the Valley historically was Henderson’s work that his portrait of Chaski, Sioux Indian was used as the promotional poster image for the McMichael appearance; whereas, landscape Road to the Lake was the poster image for the Mendel and MacKenzie appearances.
The exhibition’s title reference to tales of two valleys was because there were essentially two separate and disparate exhibitions coupled into one. Together they compared and contrasted the First Nations peoples’ experience with those of the early European traders and subsequent settlers. As such, the exhibition was equally as important a sociological treatise as it was an artistic retrospective and statement.
- James E. Lanigan
