Paul Kane, The Artist: Wilderness to Studio by Kenneth R. Lister

with contributions by Maude Cassels, Paul James Kane, Arlene Gehmacher, and Heidi Sobol

oblong, 4to. pp. 414. profusely illustrated. index. hardcover. dw. (near fine - boards bit warped, some light shelf-wear). [Toronto]: The Royal Ontario Museum Press, [2010].

ISBN-10: 0888544804 / ISBN-13: 9780888544803

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The Royal Ontario Museum holds the world’s largest collection of Kane’s art—100 oil paintings and almost 400 sketches in graphite and watercolour., in the anthropology section of the Department of World Cultures. This landmark study, published in the bicentennial year of Kane's birth, marks the first time that the ROM's Kane sketches and Kane paintings have been published in a single work. In addition of providing the historical context of the art, Kenneth R. Lister compares the wilderness sketches and studio paintings for ethnographic accuracy and artistic license. To illuminate further Kane's life and work, he has included a rare manuscript from the ROM's collections, a previously unpublished account by Maude Cassels, a daughter of the Honourable G.W. Allan, Kane's principal patron. Cassels notes that little was know of Kane's family and, taking this as an invitation, Paul James Kane, a great-great-grandson of the artist, has contributed a section on Kane family genealogy, illustrated with archival photographs. An exhibition history for each sketch and oil painting in the ROM collection is included as well.