French Canadian Habitants Playing at Cards; Place d’Armes, Montreal , circa 1848

Private Collection, Toronto

Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff, Pioneer Painter of Canada, Toronto, 1934, page 55, page 126 for a listing and description of these four works Hugues de Jouvancourt, Cornelius Krieghoff, Toronto, 1971, page 25 for “Indian Wigwam in Lower Canada”, page 25 for “Place d’Armes, Montreal”, page 26 for “Sledge Race near Montreal” and page 28 for “French Canadian Habitants Playing at Cards”, each illustrated J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, Toronto, 1990, pages 25-26, page 13 for “Place d’Armes, Montreal”, and page 37 for “Sledge Race near Montreal” Dennis Reid, “Krieghoff: Images of Canada”, Vancouver/Toronto, 1999, pages 62-63 for a discussion of the Montreal prints

These four lithographs were published by A. Borum of Munich under the patronage of Lord Elgin, then Governor of Canada. Hugues de Jouvancourt explains that Cornelius Krieghoff and Lord Elgin met while “the latter was passing through the village on a tour of inspection.” Seeing his work Elgin “was full of praise for this kind of painting describing the life of the people living in this corner of the province and was struck by the variety of subjects treated by the painter. Since lithography was then all the rage, Krieghoff explained that he intended to choose some of his most typical paintings and have engravings made of them. Lord Elgin thought this was an excellent idea and offered his patronage... Later that year, coloured lithographs printed by Kammerer made their appearance...and were an immediate success.” On Krieghoff’s keen business acumen in producing lithographs of his most popular paintings and depictions, J. Russell Harper notes that Krieghoff had “deliberately chosen them to appeal to the emerging class of independent tradespeople, army officers, and overseas businessmen who wanted economical souvenirs of Canada... Canadians bought the brightly coloured prints of Krieghoff’s paintings, imported from Germany and the United States by the artist himself, to hang in their living rooms in emulation of the wealthy who could afford to buy his more expensive oils.” These four prints are testament to the early beginnings of Canada and the burgeoning middle class of society eager to establish their status and place in a new land of opportunity. The works contain all the hallmarks of the pioneer settlement, Indigenous populations and early phases of industry that would later shape the socio-economic structure of modern Canada.