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Ad Code: 3
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from Auction House Records.
CHATTING ON THE LOGGING TRAIL
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Frederick Simpson Coburn was a painter, illustrator, photographer, etcher and dancer (1) who was born and died in Upper Melbourne, Quebec (about 90 miles southeast of Montreal). From about 1890 until 1916 he lived in Europe, most of that time in Antwerp, Holland. When he returned to Canada, he maintained homes in Upper Melbourne and in Montreal.
His mediums were oil, pastel, pencil, watercolour, graphite, crayon, photography and etching. His subjects were winter scenes, horses, logging, landscapes (mostly of Quebec, however, there are some from his travels in Europe), genre, still life, portraits, figures, nudes and dancers.
Starting in about 1898, under contract to Putnam Publishing (New York), he did illustrations for books, including ones by Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning and Canadian poet William H. Drummond. Many of his illustrations up to 1914 were done in black and white oils. His style was impressionism.
He studied at the Council of Arts and Manufactures School in Montreal (1887–1888) under C.S. Stevenson; at the Carl Hecker School of Art in New York City (see AskART) (1899); at the Royal Academy in Berlin (1890) under Franz Skarbina (see AskART) and Julius Ehrentraut (see AskART); at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (1892) under Jean Leon Gerome (see AskART); at the Slade School in London under Henry Tonks (see AskART); and at the Institut Supérieur des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp (1897) under Albrecht de (Albert) Vriendt (see AskART). He was fluent in French, German, Dutch and Flemish. In addition to his schooling he also traveled extensively in Europe.
His associates and acquaintances in Europe included Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (see AskART), the Maris brothers (see AskART) and Johann Hendrik de Weissenbruch (see AskART). His associates in Canada included Clarence Gagnon, Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, James Morrice and Maurice Cullen (see all in AskART).
In 1920 he was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and in 1927 he became a full member. He was also a member of the Pen & Pencil Club of Montreal (President (1941- 42).
He exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy from 1904 to 1954, with the Art Association of Montreal (2) from 1906 to 1944, and at the Tate Gallery (London) “A Century of Canadian Art” exhibition (1938). A painting of his was also included in the 1995 – 1996 National Gallery of Canada (traveling) exhibition titled “The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation”. During his life he was one of the most successful artists in Canada. It is said he didn’t have solo exhibitions because his paintings sold so quickly he never had enough on hand to supply one.
Among his awards are an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law from Bishop’s University (Lennoxville, Quebec) and the Art Association of Montreal’s Jessie Dow Prize (considered one of the most prestigious art awards in Canada).
His works are avidly collected and he ranks in the top 100 of highest prices for Canadian artists at auction (3). Public collections include the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto) and the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa).
As a prominent Canadian artist Coburn’s work is discussed in many art reference books. These include; A Dictionary of Canadian Artists (1974), by Colin S. MacDonald; The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction (2001), by Anthony R. Westbridge and Diana L. Bodnar; The Canadian Encyclopedia (1985), Hurtig Publishers; the 1999 and 2006 versions of E. Benezit; The Fine Arts in Canada (1925), by Newton MacTavish M.A.; Art Gallery of Ontario – the Canadian Collection (1970), by Helen Pepall Bradfield; Painting in Canada: A History” (1966) by J. Russell Harper; Canadian Art – Its Origin and Development (1943), by William Colgate; The Group of Seven (1995) by Charles C. Hill; and In A Canadian Attic (1963), by Gerald Stevens. There is also the biography Frederick Simpson Coburn (1958), by Gerald Stevens.
Footnotes:
(1) After he learned to dance in his mid 60’s he opened and operated a dance studio in Montreal.
(2) After 1948 it became the Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts.
(3) Source Canadian Art Sales Index - 2009 Edition, Westbridge Publications Ltd.
Prepared and contributed by M.D. Silverbrooke
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