Inspired by the work of Paul Kane, Frederick Arthur Verner moved to London in 1856 to enroll at London's Heatherley's Academy. His studies were cut short two years later when he served in the British military. Verner returned to Toronto in 1862 and worked as a photograph colourist, but spent his free time sketching the wilderness and Indigenous communities of Ontario. He co-founded the Ontario Society of Artists in 1872 and exhibited regularly with the group until he moved to England in 1880. His romantic Native American genre scenes, such as “Femmes indiennes potagères”, had gained tremendous popularity overseas. Verner continued to paint in this style, returning to Canada regularly to gain source material. Dating to 1905, this small canvas would have been painted during or immediately following a visit to Canada. “Femmes indiennes potagères”, with its luminous sky and snow-covered forest, is an example of Verner’s understanding of the force of sublime natural effects.
