Horatio Walker LL.D. (May 12, 1858 – September 27, 1938) was a Canadian painter. He worked in oils and watercolours, often depicting scenes of rural life in Canada with special attention to French Canadian rural tradition. He was influenced by the Barbizon school and the French realist tradition.

Life and work

Early life

250px|thumb|left|Horatio Walker's Watching the Turkeys, not dated.

Walker was born in Listowel, Upper Canada in 1858, to parents Thomas and Jeanne Maurice Walker.

In 1870, on Walker's 12th birthday, his father brought him to Quebec City, Quebec, for the first time. His father made occasional business trips to the city as part of his timber business. During this sojourn, they visited the Île d'Orléans, in search of pine timber. Walker made subsequent visits to Quebec City during the following years. His formal schooling ended at the Listowel Public School in 1872; he never went on to pursue formal academic training in art. At the age of 15, Walker moved to Toronto, Ontario to apprentice with the photographic firm Notman and Fraser. It was a fortunate opportunity, as several successful artists also worked there; Walker learned watercolour from Robert Ford Gagen, miniature portrait painting from John Arthur Fraser, and painting from Lucius Richard O'Brien and Henri Perré.

Mature life and career

thumb|right|Walker painting in his Ste-Pétronille garden, 1933

thumb|Horatio Walker in his studio, Ile d'Orleans, 1926

Walker was only at the firm for three years until he moved to the United States of America for uncertain reasons. Writing in 1928, Hector Charlesworth suggested that Walker was "chucked down the stairs" and fired for quarrelling with a family relative. However, it is more likely that Walker travelled to Philadelphia for the American Centennial in 1876, an exhibition where Notman and Fraser won the international award, which gave the firm the privilege of exclusive photographic rights for the celebrations. Ultimately, Walker may have decided to stay and pursue painting.

Memberships and organizations

Walker was a member of several artists' organizations, including the American Watercolor Society (1882), the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (associate member in 1883, full member in 1913), the Society of American Artists (1887), the National Academy of Design (associate member in 1890, full member in 1891), and the British Institute of Watercolours (1901). He was a founding member of the Canadian Art Club, which elected him as its president in 1915.

Selected works

  • A Canadian Pastoral
  • After the Wedding
  • An Old Islander
  • At Low Tide
  • Ave Maria
  • Boeuf à l'abreuvoir
  • By the Fireside
  • Canoe Cove
  • Célestin
  • Corner of Pig Lane in Québec
  • Corner of Sainte-Pétronille
  • Corner of the Stable
  • De Profundis
  • Deo Gratias
  • Église de l'Île-aux-Grues
  • Fagot Gatherers
  • Farmhouse Interior
  • First Snow
  • Fishing Nets
  • Girl with Turkeys
  • Golden Dew
  • Hauling the Log
  • Hauling Wood
  • Hay Making
  • Horses at Trough
  • Ice Cutters
  • Interior of a House
  • Killing Pigs
  • La Rencontre
  • La soue à cochons
  • La tonte du mouton
  • Le vieux four
  • Little White Pigs and their Mother
  • Man Sawing Wood
  • Maple Sugar Harvest
  • Mare and Foal
  • Milk Maid Île d'Orléans
  • Milking Early Morn
  • Milking on the Batture
  • Morning Île d'Orléans
  • Morning Sainte-Pétronille
  • Old House at Sainte-Famille
  • Oxen drinking
  • Oxen Ploughing
  • Peasant Scraping Pig
  • Pétronille de Saint-François
  • Potato Gatherers
  • Preparing the Feed
  • Sheep Shearers
  • Spring Forage
  • The Bake Oven
  • The Farmer's Wife
  • The Gardener
  • The Harrow
  • The Rainbow
  • The Return
  • The Royal Mail
  • The Sheep Fold
  • The Shepherdess
  • The Smugglers
  • The Sorcerers
  • The Thresher
  • The Turkey Girl
  • Tournant la herse
  • Tree Fellers
  • Turkeys
  • Turning the Harrow
  • Unloading Hay Boat
  • Vieille Maison à Ste-Famille
  • Way-Side Shrine at Saint-Laurent
  • Winter
  • Wood-Cutters

Notes

References

  • Farr, Dorothy. Horatio Walker 1858–1938. Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1977
  • Grandbois, Michèle. Quebec City Art & Artists: An Illustrated History, 2025. Toronto: Art Canada Institute.
  • Gravel, Lyne. Les Oeuvres d’Horatio Walker. Quebec: Musée du Québec, 1987
  • Harper, Russell. Painting in Canada: A History 2nd ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1981.
  • Karel, David. Horatio Walker. Québec: Fides, 1986.
  • Price, Newland F. Horatio Walker. New York and Montreal: Louis Carrier Co., 1928.
  • Reid, Dennis A Concise History of Canadian Painting 2nd Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. .
  • Dozens of works of Horatio Walker reproduced at the Quebec History site of Marianopolis College
  • Biography of Horatio Walker from Museum London
  • Artist Gallery: Paintings and Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada
  • Virtual Museums Canada Horizons Exhibit: Canadian and Russian Painters (1860–1940).