Winter, the Wayside Shrine

"Possibly" Mrs. W.B. Messon, Quebec, before 1872 "Possibly" by descent to Mrs. F.L. Messon, Springfield, Massachusetts "Possibly" by descent to Mrs. Emily B. Finley, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto

Marcel Barbeau, "Cornelius Krieghoff: Pioneer Painter of North America", Toronto, 1934, 'possibly' listed on page 114 as "Winter Landscape" (11 x 19 ins)

Cornelius Krieghoff’s sharp intellect and vivid imagination fully embraced the picturesque life of the habitants, along with the Canadian winters filled with sleighing and tobogganing. His keen attention to detail captured the essence of a bygone era and its people, leaving behind a valuable record of that time. Robson highlights the diversity of subjects in Krieghoff’s paintings. However, it was the winter landscapes—covered in snow, featuring brightly coloured sleighs, and the colourful attire of the habitants—that brought Krieghoff the most artistic success. He understood that winter was the most iconic and visually stunning season, a time filled with sleighing parties, snowshoeing, and dances. It was with these winter scenes that he achieved his highest artistic acclaim. In several of his paintings, Krieghoff portrays travellers in sleighs braving harsh winter blizzards. In "Winter, the Wayside Shrine", a habitant and his wife ride in a sleigh, bundled up as they journey through a blinding snowstorm, possibly heading to town or mass. Their path is marked by a wayside cross alongside rail fences and evergreen trees. Thousands of these wayside crosses were erected throughout rural Quebec, beginning in 1534 when Jacques Cartier placed the first crosses to assert his claim to the land. This practice was later continued by explorers and missionaries and eventually adopted by settlers who erected crosses when opening new roads or staking land claims. These crosses are a recurring symbol in Krieghoff’s work. The winter sleighing scene became a highly sought-after subject during this time, one that Krieghoff revisited often, and it remains a cherished representation of early Canadian art, culture and life.