Orest
Nicholas (Rick) de Grandmaison and
Thomas Mower Martin Paintings
Over the past year, the Whyte Museum has
received valuable additions to its Art Collection through generous
donations. One such donation was received in August, 1999 from Mrs. Evelyn
Barrington in memory of Mr. John William (Ben) Barrington. This donation
includes two paintings by Orest Nicholas (Rick) de Grandmaison entitled
New Moon, Southern Alberta, and Untitled [Willows, trees
and hillside]. These paintings now accompany three other Rick de
Grandmaison works previously in the collection and succeed in providing
the Museum with a well rounded portfolio of Rick de Grandmaison's work.
![Untitled [Willows, Trees and Hillside] by Orest Nicholas (Rick) De Grandmaison](s_ricktwo.jpg) Orest Nicholas (Rick) de Grandmaison, 1932 - 1985, made his
way to Banff with his parents Nicholas and Sonia de Grandmaison in 1939.
While in Banff Rick was artistically educated by his father Nicholas de
Grandmaison who was himself a well-respected painter, best known for his
representations of the indigenous people in Western Canada. Rick continued
his studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts, Chelsea School in London,
and the Winnipeg School of Art. The prairies and foothills of Alberta were
customarily the subject of Rick de Grandmaison's work. In this setting he
spent much time exploring themes of human intervention, such as the
harmony of heritage buildings in their natural environment, or the
portrayal of a lone cowboy and his horse in the foothills. This inclusion
of the human dimension contrasted to the remote Canadian landscape
painting of other artists at the time.
The addition of Rick's work to the art
collection broadens our ability to repesent the visual arts community of
this period. Carl Rungius, Walter J. Phillips, H.G. Glyde, Peter and
Catharine Whyte were all members of this remarkable community.
 Included in
the recent Katharine Vaux McCauley and Molly Vaux donation are two
watercolour paintings by Thomas Mower Martin titled Mr. Sir Donald,
Illecillewaet River, 1900; and Untitled (Mt. Temple and the
Paradise Valley, 1903). Thomas Mower Martin was born in London,
England in 1838 and moved to Muskoka Ontario in 1862. Martin was a
respected and innovative member of the Ontario arts community and a
prolific painter who often traveled in search of inspiration for his work.
Some of these travels brought Mower Martin West to the Canadian Rockies,
his first trip being in 1887 with Marmaduke Matthews, Lucius O'Brien, and
Forshaw Day. Here he joined F.M. Bell Smith, Robert Harris, and William
Cruikshank in being one of the first artists to bring the magnificence of
the Rockies to the east.
The paintings in which Mower Martin
portrayed the Rockies were produced with an agenda of truth. He said "put
your colours out on your palette and paint what you see." Paintings of the
sort were to take on the identity of a "Canadian" way of painting. This
raw portrayal of landscape contrasted the traditional romanticized method
of grandeur in European landscape painting. As a result, this "Canadian"
portrayal of landscape begun in the 1880's was paramount in paving the way
for the more experimental landscape painters of the next generation.
 This
donation is a valued addition to the Whyte Museum's Art Collection. The
Mower Martin pieces not only reflect the artistic history and development
of the Canadian Rockies, but of Canada as well.
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