Pioneers and Prominent People of Saskatchewan

 

 

183

 

town of Fort Qu' Appelle, where he now resides. The move to the Fort was the result of a decision to live in close proximity to his "raw material," for the beauty of this lovely valley had cast its spell over him and he desired to paint it in all its moods and seasons. Landscape painting has been to Mr. Henderson a particularly ,happy field to labour in, for, first and foremost, he is a true lover of nature, and his success as a landscape painter has doubtless sprung from a gift to see nature with the understanding and sympathy of the poet and to express himself in colour harmony that is masterly in composition and technique. But while Mr. Henderson has enjoyed many happy hours in painting the broad prairies and glorious sunsets of Saskatchewan, in winter and summer seasons, yet, it is his Indian portraiture that has given him his greatest satisfaction. Taking the Indians of Western Canada for his subjects, he has painted representative types from the Reserves of Saskatchewan and Alberta giving us interpretations of these people that are at once living portraits and decorative works of art. He has lived on' the Reserves with "his subjects" and has learned to know them and their ways and to appreciate the many fine qualities - and indiosyncrasies - of the red man. The Indians of the Standing Buffalo Reservation, the Sioux, soon found a name for their artist friend, and thus they greet him in their own tongue as "Wicite-owa-wicasa," which, being interpreted means "the man who paints the old men's pictures." His painting is always sincere, for his canvases must first satisfy his own searching criticism for truth and expression. His landscape painting is a considerable contribution to the art of Western Canada where his pictures continue to exhale their charm in the homes of many Canadian art lovers. But the people of Canada will possibly chiefly remember the art of James Henderson for his greater contribution to posterity in preserving for generations of Canadians such magnificent studies of the original inhabitants of these Do-

 

183

 

 

Pioneers and Prominent People of Saskatchewan