William Cruikshank
(1849 - 1922)

Born at Broughty Ferry, Scotland, he came to Canada with his parents in 1857. He later returned to the old country where he studied at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, under Hugh Cameron; the Royal Academy Schools, London, England, where he was accepted on the strength of his drawings. In 1869 he left for France on the advice of Sir George Reid, President of the R.S.A., where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and under Reid at Atelier Yvon, Paris. The Franco-Prussian War terminated his study in France and he returned to London with a group of Scottish students.

He was in New York in 1871 and worked as a magazine illustrator and founded the Academy of Design’s pen and ink class which later developed into the Art Students’ League of New York. He was credited with having introduced the broad pen-and-ink style to America. Harper’s invited him to join their staff on condition that he became an American citizen but he declined.

He returned to Toronto in 1878 and opened a studio. He was then appointed Principal of The Central Ontario School of Art and Design founded by the Ontario Society of Artists, and was its principal teacher in black and white, more especially in drawing from the antique which he felt was an integral part of the art student’s training. He also gave lessons at the Toronto Art Students’ League. William Colgate considered Cruikshank a sound and accurate draughtsman but did not feel that he was very successful in his painting when it came to colour and found most of his canvases heavy and dull.

As a black and white artist Cruikshank made many trips throughout Ontario with his pad and pencil and recorded scenes of the fields and streets, ploughing matches, dog catching, strawberry picking, and numerous other activities around 1870. Some years later he donated many of these drawings to the Art Gallery of Toronto. In 1885 Cruikshank became a member of the Toronto Etching Society which he had in its ranks W. H. Howard, T. Mower Martin, and Arthur Cox. The Society’s first exhibition was its last, as it was opened on the same day as the mobilization for the North West Rebellion. The Gallery consequently was empty and the exhibition sponsors suffered financial losses which discouraged further activity of this group.

Cruikshank was best known for his black and white work and the teaching of hundreds of students, a number of whom became prominent artists. He died in Kansas City while there on a visit.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977