John Innes (Canadian 1863-1941)

In the Days that Were
oil on canvas, signed lower left "John Innes", titled on a plaque and dated 1903

Provenance:
Mount Stephen Club, Montreal
Sold sale of Important Canadian Art, Sotheby's Canada, May 11, 1994,
lot #88, sold for a record $26,400
Prominent Corporate Collection, Toronto
Literature:
John Bruce Cowan, John Innes, Painter of the Canadian West, 1945, page 12

John Innes was an early painter of the Canadian West. His many vocational pursuits, including cartoonist for the Calgary Herald, surveyor, rancher, soldier and published writer fused together to inform his artistic approach. Originally from England, Innes’s work was rooted in a European approach to painting, but in subject matter, he exhibited a deep affection for the Canadian land. Early in his life, Innes worked with a survey party in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies making maps and sketches for Ross, Mann and Holt. He was a rancher in Calgary, then moved to the mouth of High River, where he sold horses, and during this time had contact with the Blackfeet Indians in the area. Innes admired the free spirit present in the west, and observed the changes brought by the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the growth of settlements, particularly as it affected First Nations peoples, and he was determined to document what he observed.

The Days That Were portrays the drama of a native buffalo hunt, putting the viewer in touch with the reality of living off the land. The inscription on the plaque, which reads “ Their bones lie bleached mid the dusty grass, by the gash of the white man’s share and only in dreams, wild brothers, do we live in the days that were”, shows a poignant nostalgia for the loss of the freedom of this time. Innes wrote eloquently of his feelings: “From this period of my life to the present day I have been a slave of the West. I have seen it grow from a terrifying wilderness to a land of golden wheat…Everywhere my brush has told…the glories of the great wide land. In the cow camps, in the lodges of long-dead chiefs, in construction camps, on the mountain tops, or out upon the prairies criss-crossed with buffalo trails, I have learned the lore of Western Canada.” This large-scale canvas is an outstanding example of Innes’s work and an important record of early life in the area.
Size: 44 h x 81 w in (with frame 56 x 93 in)
J18568                              

uno@langmann.com
604 736 8825 or 1 800 730 8825