Hurlingham Fine Arts

Description

A fine and important historical watercolour drawing on prepared paper by William George Richardson Hind, inscribed " First Falls on the Moisie", numbered "27".
Provenance: Sotheby & Co. Toronto, 20th October 1967 ' A Collection of Drawings and Watercolours by the Canadian Artist William George Richardson Hind', The Property of the Estate of the Late Robert W.Reford, Esq.,of Montreal. Lot no. 517

William Hind was born June 1833 at Nottingham, England, the son of Thomas Hind and Sarah Youle. Little is known about his early artistic training but when he joined his elder brother,Henry Youle Hind, in Toronto, he was appointed art master at the Toronto Normal School from 1851-1857.

He travelled to England at the end of the decade, returning to Quebec in May 1861. He discovered his brother had already left to explore the little known Moisie River. William joined the party as the exploration artist recording the journey as they travelled into the interior. During the trip he sketched over a 100 drawings of landscapes including the indigenous Nasquapee and Montagnais Indians. Some of these were used as illustrations for Henry Youle Hind's 'Exploration in the Interior of the Labrador Peninsula, and the Montagnais and Nasquapee people' 1863. From these sketches William produced a number of large finished watercolours of which sixteen were published as lithographs. Probably the more famous example being 'The game of bones', as shown illustrated on the front cover, Sotheby's Toronto catalogue, 20th October 1967.