TABLE OF CONTENTS
William Cruikshank fonds:
William Cruikshank was a Scottish-born portrait and figure painter, best known for his paintings of Canadian landscapes. He was born in Broughty Ferry, Forfar, Scotland on December 25, 1848, the great-nephew of famous British illustrator George Cruikshank (1792-1878). Cruikshank and his family came to Canada in 1857, settling in Toronto, Ontario. In 1864 he returned to Scotland where he studied art at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. While in Europe, Cruikshank also studied at the Royal Academy in London, and at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. His studies in Paris were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1871 he returned to London and began illustrating for London periodicals. In 1873 he returned to Canada, before leaving for New York, where he provided illustrations for Scribner's and St. Nicholas Magazine. In 1876 Cruikshank returned to Toronto, contributing illustrations to Canadian Illustrated News until 1879. In 1880 he began teaching classes in sketching at Central Ontario School of Art and Design (renamed the Ontario College of Art in 1912). Cruikshank trained many artists who would go on to become prominent in their own right, including members of the Group of Seven. He was elected member of the Ontario Society of Arts on October 3, 1882, and appointed Instructor of Art and Design when Robert Harris (1849-1919) resigned. In 1884 Cruikshank was elected an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and became the president of the Ontario School of Art the same year. In 1885 he became a founding member of the Toronto Etching society, and the following year was commissioned by Sir William Van Horne (1843-1915) to paint in the Canadian Rockies as part of the Canadian Pacific Railway's promotional scheme. Cruikshank continued teaching at the Ontario Society of Arts, the Central Ontario School of Art, and with the Royal Canadian Academy until 1915. In 1919 Cruikshank became ill, and died in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 19, 1922.
Fonds consists of one sketchbook belonging to William Cruikshank and contains pen-and-ink drawings of figure studies; pencil sketches of outdoor scenery; and a watercolour painting of a mountain landscape. The sketchbook also includes notes mainly written in pencil of names of people, and prices associated with works of art. The notes date from between 1875 and 1888, when Cruikshank was teaching at the Central Ontario School of Art. The inside of the sketchbook's back cover contains an 1874 Almanack from T. J. and J. Smith, London.
Source of title: Title based on contents of fonds.
Immediate source of aquisition: The collection was donated to the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives by Maggie Keith, 2011.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Permission to reproduce or publish material from the William Cruikshank fonds must be obtained from the National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.
Finding aids: Box list available.
Related material: The collection of the National Gallery of Canada includes two oil paintings by William Cruikshank, including his Royal Canadian Academy of Arts diploma work, Sand Wagon (1895); and Breaking a Road (1894), purchased in 1913.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared by Kira A. Brown in 2011.
Donated to the National Gallery of Canada by Maggie Keith in April 2009. Maggie Keith inherited the drawings from her partner art historian and curator Robert Stacey (1949-2007). Robert Stacey was the grandson of Charles W. Jefferys.
[Title of item], William Cruikshank fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.