Artist was a Young Man – Alvin M. Josephy

Subtitled The Life Story of Peter Rindisbacher, this book was written as a supplement to the 1970 art exhibition of the same name. As a consequence, it is not very long, but it is filled with information of an often overlooked group of original Selkirk Settlers, the Swiss of 1821.

Peter Rindisbacher was a teenager when he arrived at Red River with his family. He began studying art in Switzerland prior to the family’s emigration to the RRS, and showed a great deal of promise as an artist. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that there was no way of furthering his education in the North American West, but then again, Rindisbacher’s work might not have had the fresh, original style that it was praised for during his lifetime.

The Rindisbacher family left the RRS after the flood of 1826 to seek their fortune further south. Eventually, Peter would end up in St. Louis, where he died suddenly – no one seems to know how – at the age of 28.

His paintings were the first ever of the native peoples of the plains and of pioneer and fur trade life there. They have added significance on two points: he lived for years among the people and scenes that he painted, unlike travelling artists like Paul Kane, for example, so he really knew his subjects; and Rindisbacher was meticulous in accurately portraying the detail of those subjects.

Thanks to him, we have a visual record of life at Red River in the early days. In an earlier posting I used one of his images to illustrate a dog carriole. Some of his most famous scenes depict the buffalo hunt in both summer and winter. But there are others that illustrate life near and at the RRS, too.

Two of the Companies Officers Travelling in a Canoe Made of Birchbark Manned by Canadians (1818 - 1828) (National Gallery of Canada)

The Governor of Red River, Driving his Family on the River in a Horse Cariole (1824 ) (National Gallery of Canada)

For more on Peter Rindisbacher See Clifford Wilson’s article in Canadian Art #83, Jan./Feb. 1963.

Tags: 1821 Group, Life at the RRS, Life at the Settlement, Peter Rindisbacher, Swiss Colonists

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