Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

UNTITLED LANDSCAPE - FRED CROSS

Date

1904

Materials

ACRYLIC, PAPER, GLASS

No. Pieces

1

Height

33.3

Length

39.5

Description

MATTED AND FRAMED LANDSCAPE IN WATERCOLOUR AND ACRYLIC (PASTEL?) ON PAPER. BODY OF WATER COMPOSES MAJORITY OF CANVAS WITH SHORE ON LEFT SIDE OF PAINTING AND TOWNSCAPE IN FAR BACKGROUND. “FRED CROSS 19” HANDWRITTEN IN WHITE INK ON BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER FOLLOWED BY THE NUMBERS “04” IN SEVERELY FADED WHITE INK. PAINTING DIMENSIONS VISIBLE IN MAT ARE 24.6 X 17.4 CM. MAT IS BROWN IN COLOUR AND IS APPROX. 6 TO 7 CM IN WIDTH AROUND ALL SIDES OF THE PAINTING. GOLD-COLOURED METAL FRAME WITH PRONOUNCED DECORATIVE ON OUTSIDE EDGE, BRUSHED DESIGN INSIDE FRAME EDGES AND SLIGHT DESIGN ON INSIDE EDGE. PAPER IS SUPPORTED BY A BACK BOARD. BACK IS COVERED IN A BROWN PAPER PASTED AROUND THE PERIMETER OF FRAME. YELLOWED, PAPER LABEL AT TOP CENTER READS “CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY” AND “THIS IS THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY MY HUSBAND – FREDERICK G. CROSS” IN BLACK TYPEFACE. BELOW IS A SIGNATURE FOR “MARGERY CROSS”. WIRE HANGER ON BACK. METAL SECURITY HARDWARE SCREWED TO BOTTOM CENTER OF FRAME. CONDITION: OVERALL CONDITION OF PAINTING IS VERY GOOD. MAT PAPER HAS SEVERELY YELLOWED WITH SLIGHT FOXING OVERALL AND WATER DAMAGE IN BOTTOM LEFT. FRAME HAS A SLIGHT LAYER OF DIRT AND HAS DARKENED. ON THE BACK, PAPER BACKING IS MODERATELY DISCOLOURED OVERALL WITH A DARK BROWN STAIN ON THE BOTTOM LEFT SIDE OF THE FRAME. TEAR ON THE LEFT SIDE OF PAPER ON INNER EDGE OF FRAME. SEVERAL SMALL HOLES IN PAPER NEAR FRAME AND LARGER HOLE IN RIGHT SIDE. LABEL IS SEVERELY YELLOW WITH LOSS OF THE UPPER LEFT CORNER.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

THIS WORK HAS BEEN DONATED TO THE GALT MUSEUM & ARCHIVES IN MEMORY OF HAZEL LONG AND WILMA LONG HOWARTH BY JIM AND TOM HOWARTH. ON AUGUST 24, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED TOM HOWARTH REGARDING HIS DONATION OF THE ROLOFF BENY AND FRED CROSS ARTWORKS. THE ARTWORKS ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO HOWARTH’S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER. HOWARTH RECALLED THE FREDERICK CROSS PAINTING AS BELONGING TO HIS GRANDMOTHER, NOTING, “THE CROSS PRINT WAS IN THE BEDROOM THAT US KIDS USED TO STAY IN DOWNSTAIRS…[IT WAS] IN THE HOUSE WHENEVER WE WOULD COME UP TO VISIT HER. I CAN REMEMBER SEEING [IT], BUT WHEN YOU’RE A KID YOU DON’T THINK ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I CAN DEFINITELY REMEMBER SEEING [THE PAINTING] IN THE HOUSE.” “BEING A YOUNGSTER, YOU DIDN’T THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT [THE ARTWORK]. ALTHOUGH WHEN I WAS, I BELIEVE I WAS ABOUT 20 YEARS OLD, I TOOK A TRIP UP THERE BY MYSELF TO SEE HER AND I DID ASK ABOUT THE FREDERICK CROSS PAINTING. IT WAS PREDOMINANT IN THE ROOM THAT I WOULD STAY IN WHEN I WAS UP THERE. SHE SAID THAT SHE KNEW MR. AND MRS. CROSS AND SHE [CAME] TO GET IT THROUGH THEM. BUT THAT’S ALL. I DIDN’T PURSUE IT ANY FARTHER, BECAUSE I JUST WAS JUST VERY SLIGHTLY CURIOUS ABOUT IT. I UNDERSTAND THAT SHE ACTUALLY KNEW MR. AND MRS. CROSS, THAT THE PAINTING WAS NOT DONE ESPECIALLY FOR MY GRANDMOTHER, BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE ONES SHE LIKED AND THEY GAVE IT TO HER.” ON HIS DONATION OF THE ARTWORKS AND HIS FAMILY’S HISTORY, HOWARTH ELABORATED, “MY BROTHER AND I CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THESE WHEN MY SISTER [PEGGY HOWARTH-NUMBERS] PASSED AWAY AT THE END OF LAST YEAR. I HAD SEEN [THE ARTWORKS] IN MY GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE, THE [PAINTING] AND THE BENY PRINT, AND MY BROTHER AND I DISCUSSED IT AND WE THOUGHT THE RIGHT PLACE FOR THIS TO BE WOULD BE BACK IN LETHBRIDGE WHERE IT ORIGINATED. MY WIFE HELPED ME, SHE WENT ONLINE AND RESEARCHED A LITTLE BIT AND SHE CAME UP WITH THE GALT MUSEUM. I TALKED TO MY BROTHER AND WE SAID “WELL, LET’S SEE IF THEY’RE INTERESTED”, AND THEN THAT’S WHEN WE CONTACTED THE MUSEUM. WE JUST FELT IT WAS RIGHT THAT IT WOULD GO BACK TO CANADA, TO LETHBRIDGE BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE MY MOTHER WAS FROM, MY FATHER WAS FROM AND MY GRANDMOTHER WAS FROM CANADA.” “MY FATHER WAS BORN IN WINNIPEG…I DON’T KNOW THE WHOLE STORY MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN…I BELIEVE HE MET UP WITH MOM [WILMA CATHERINE MARGARET LONG-HOWARTH] IN LETHBRIDGE BECAUSE ONCE DAD BECAME OF AGE TO WORK, HE WENT TO WORK FOR THE BANK OF CANADA ALONG WITH MY GRANDFATHER. THEN DAD WAS TRANSFERRED, I BELIEVE, TO LETHBRIDGE TO WORK IN THE BANK THERE BECAUSE MY UNCLE…AND HIS WIFE, MY AUNT PEGGY, HAD MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE AND HE WAS TIED UP WITH THE BANK OF CANADA ALSO…MY DAD SERVED IN THE AIR FORCE FOR THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE. MY MOTHER AND HE WERE MARRIED ACTUALLY BEFORE HE WENT INTO THE SERVICE AND THEN AFTER THEY GOT OUT, MY GRANDFATHER HAD MOVED TO ROCKFORD ILLINOIS AND STARTED A COAL COMPANY UP TO DISTRIBUTE COAL [IN 1947]. THEY ASKED MY DAD TO COME DOWN. SO DAD AND MOM CAME DOWN HERE. THEY NEVER WENT BACK TO LIVE IN CANADA. THEY STAYED IN ROCKFORD THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, MY DAD BECOMING A NATURALIZED CITIZEN AND MY MOTHER NOT. SHE REMAINED A CANADIAN CITIZEN. WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER DIED, MY UNCLE BOB, ROBERT LONG, AND MY MOTHER DIVIDED UP THE POSSESSIONS OF GRANDMOTHER’S, AND UNCLE BOB TOOK SOME STUFF WHERE HE MOVED OUT TO VICTORIA. MOM BROUGHT THE STUFF HOME TO ILLINOIS. THE PAINTINGS WERE AMONG THE THINGS SHE BROUGHT HOME FROM UP THERE. THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PAINTINGS OF WATERTON – BIG CHIEF MOUNTAIN…THEY WERE OF PEOPLE THAT MY MOTHER WAS REAL GOOD FRIENDS WITH, THAT WERE…FREELANCE ARTISTS, THEY WEREN’T BIG NAMES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.” “MY [MATERNAL] GRANDMOTHER DIDN’T PASS AWAY UNTIL 1980. MOM AND DAD LIVED DOWN HERE THE WHOLE TIME. MY GRANDMOTHER WAS LIVING IN CANADA BECAUSE THE GRANDFATHER THAT MY DAD FOLLOWED DOWN WAS HIS FATHER. MOM’S FATHER ACTUALLY PASSED AWAY IN 1945 JUST AFTER MY PARENTS HAD BEEN MARRIED, AND THEN MY GRANDMOTHER DIDN’T PASS AWAY UNTIL 1980, BUT SHE LIVED IN LETHBRIDGE THE WHOLE TIME. SHE NEVER CAME DOWN HERE OTHER THAN TO VISIT—AND THEN I CAN REMEMBER AS A CHILD GOING UP THERE TO VISIT HER A NUMBER OF TIMES.” “WHEN MY FATHER PASSED AWAY, MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND MOVED IN WITH MY MOTHER TO TAKE CARE OF HER. SHE WASN’T UNABLE TO TAKE CARE OF HERSELF, JUST [NEEDED] SOMEBODY THAT WAS YOUNGER TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL HER NEEDS WERE MET. MY SISTER STAYED THERE UNTIL MOM PASSED AWAY. MOM PASSED AWAY IN 2OO8 AND INSTEAD OF MAKING MY SISTER MOVE BACK INTO THE HOUSE THEY WERE ORIGINALLY IN, MY BROTHER AND I SAID “PEGGY, YOU TOOK CARE OF MOM FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, SO YOU JUST STAY HERE”. SHE STAYED IN THE HOUSE THAT MY BROTHER AND I GREW UP IN, THAT MY DAD BUILT HIMSELF…THE ORIGINAL HOWARTH HOUSEHOLD JUST NORTH OF ROCKFORD. WHEN [PEGGY] PASSED AWAY, MY BROTHER AND I WENT OUT AND CLEANED EVERYTHING OUT AND THEN DECIDED, ONCE WE CAME UP WITH THE ARTWORK, WE THOUGHT IT SHOULD GO BACK. THAT’S WHEN WE DECIDED TO SEND IT BACK.” “MY BROTHER AND I DISCUSSED THIS, WE SAW GRANDMOTHER LONG MAYBE SIX OR SEVEN TIMES IN OUR WHOLE LIFETIME, AND SHE WAS A VERY PROPER PERSON. ONE TIME I MADE THE MISTAKE OF CALLING HER “GRANDMA”. SHE LOOKED AT ME VERY STERNLY AND SHE [SAID], “THOMAS, I’M NOT YOUR GRANDMA. YOUR GRANDMA LIVES IN ILLINOIS. I AM YOUR GRANDMOTHER”. SHE WAS VERY OLD FASHIONED THAT WAY, I GUESS MORE BRITISH THAN ANYTHING. SHE CAME FROM…NOVA SCOTIA, WHERE SHE WAS BORN. [I WANTED TO DONATE THE ARTWORKS] BECAUSE…I FEEL MY GRANDMOTHER’S SPIRIT…IS STILL IN CANADA…MY BROTHER AND I THOUGHT, “WELL SHE HAD THESE PAINTINGS FOR A LONG TIME, MAYBE WE’LL PUT THEM BACK IN THE TOWN THAT SHE DIED IN, MAYBE SHE’LL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THEM AGAIN.” THAT’S A LITTLE WEIRD BUT THAT’S JUST THE WAY WE WERE THINKING.” THIS UNTITLED PAINTING IS SIGNED BY ARTIST FREDERICK GEORGE CROSS. IT APPEARS THE PAINTING WAS SIGNED IN 1904. CROSS (1881-1941) WORKED IN THE BROOKS AREA. ACCORDING TO THE BOOK, “A HISTORY OF ART IN ALBERTA: 1905-1907,” BY NANCY TOWNSHEND, CROSS WAS “KNOWN FOR HIS MASTERLY TREATMENT OF FORM IN TONAL WATERCOLOURS,” – A SKILL EXEMPLIFIED IN THIS WORK. CROSS WAS ELECTED AS A MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOUR IN 1933. IN ADDITION TO HIS WORK AS AN ARTIST, TOWNSHEND WRITES, “CROSS WORKED AS THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY’S IRRIGATION ENGINEER IN THE BROOKS AREA FROM 1925 TO 1935 AND IN LETHBRIDGE FROM 1926 TO 1941” (P. 19-20). IN HER BOOK, “ALBERTA SOCIETY OF ARTISTS – THE FIRST SEVENTY YEAR,” KATHY E. ZIMON WRITES THAT CROSS WAS AMONG THE FIRST TEN ARTISTS SELECTED TO BE A PART OF THE ALBERTA SOCIETY OF ARTISTS (ASA) BY THE SOCIETY’S FIRST PRESIDENT, A. C. LEIGHTON (P. 22). CROSS WAS AMONG THE MANY MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY WHO WORKED PRIMARILY AS LANDSCAPE PAINTERS. ZIMON WRITES, “LIKE THE MAJORITY OF THE ARTISTS WHO EXHIBITED AS MEMBERS IN BOTH ASA EXHIBITIONS IN 1931, CROSS WAS ALSO BORN IN ENGLAND, BUT APPARENTLY HAD NO FORMAL ART TRAINING, ALTHOUGH HE HAD AN INTEREST IN DRAWING AND PAINTING ALL HIS LIFE. HOWEVER, HE STUDIED CIVIL ENGINEERING, AND IN 1906 ARRIVED IN ALBERTA TO WORK OF THE BUILDING OF THE RAILWAY. DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, HE SERVED IN THE CANADIAN RAILWAY CORPS, AND ON HIS RETURN IN 1919, HE BECAME CANAL SUPERINTENDENT OF IRRIGATION FOR THE CPR AT BROOKS. HIS WATERCOLOURS WERE MOSTLY RURAL LANDSCAPES, NOTABLE FOR THEIR LOW HORIZON AND LARGE EXPANSE OF SKY…” (P. 86). THE GRASSES PRESENT ALONG THE SHORE OF THE WATER DEPICTED IN THIS LANDSCAPE COULD BE A REFERENCE TO A PRAIRIE SCENE, COMMON IN HIS BODY OF WORK. THE DONOR, TOM HOWARTH, EXPLAINED IN AN EMAIL THAT THIS PAINTING, ALONG WITH THE OTHER INCLUDING WITH THIS DONATION, CAME TO HIM FROM HIS MOTHER, WILMA LONG. ACCORDING TO HER ONLINE OBITUARY, LONG WAS BORN IN REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN ON DECEMBER 18, 1919 AND GREW UP IN LETHBRIDGE. HER PARENTS WERE HAZEL E. FOLLIS LONG AND CHARLES A. LONG. SHE MARRIED THE DONOR’S FATHER, JAMES ROBERT (BOB) HOWARTH IN LETHBRIDGE ON NOVEMBER 18, 1942. HE THE COUPLE HAD THREE CHILDREN: JIM, TOM, AND MARGARET PEGGY. BOB PASSED AWAY ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1991. WILMA PASSED AWAY IN ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS ON MARCH 26, 2008 AT THE AGE OF 88 YEARS. HAZEL LONG’S OBITUARY WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ON APRIL 11, 1980. IT STATES THE FAMILY OF HAZEL LONG (MAIDEN NAME UNKNOWN) (1893-1980) ARRIVED IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA FROM CHESLEY, ONTARIO IN THE EARLY 1900S, FIRST RESIDING IN CARMANGAY, THEN MEDICINE HAT, BEFORE SETTLING IN LETHBRIDGE IN THE MID-1920S. SHE PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE ON APRIL 9, 1980 AT THE AGE OF 86 YEARS. HAZEL MARRIED CHARLES ALBERT LONG (1874-1945) WHO – ACCORDING TO HIS NOVEMBER 5, 1945 OBITUARY – ARRIVED IN MEDICINE HAT IN 1895 AT THE AGE OF 21 YEARS. HE BECAME A CONDUCTOR WITH THE CPR AND WOULD OPERATE RUNS INTO LETHBRIDGE. AFTER SEVERAL YEARS IN MEDICINE HAT, HE MOVED TO LETHBRIDGE IN THE 1920S. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, OBITUARIES, LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF ROLOFF BENY AND FRED CROSS, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170017001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170017002

Acquisition Date

2017-04

Collection

Museum

Less detail