Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"SLEEPING TODDLER WITH REVOLVER"

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1970

Materials

METAL, GLASS, PAPER

No. Pieces

1

Length

42.7

Width

51.3

Description

PENCIL SKETCH ON PAPER INSIDE FRAME WITH METAL EDGES AND GLASS COVERING. SKETCH OF A SMALL CHILD ASLEEP HOLDING A DOLL, WITH A REVOLVER BESIDE THE DOLL. SKETCH UNSIGNED, ATTRIBUTED TO E.E. RIETHMAN. SKETCH INSIDE WHITE MATTE WITH BLACK INNER TRIM, WITH GLASS FRONT TO FRAME. FRAME SILVER METAL WITH FLORAL PATTERNED TRIM AROUND INSIDE. BACK OF FRAME HAS BROWN PAPER BACKING WITH SILVER LOOP-SCREW AT LEFT AND RIGHT EDGES, WITH SILVER METAL WIRES ATTACTED TO SCREWS. BACKING HAS HANDWRITTEN TEXT IN BLACK MARKER AT UPPER LEFT CORNER “BY E. RIETHMAN” AND HANDWRITTEN TEXT IN BLACK MARKER AT LOWER-MIDDLE “OWNED BY H. FLAIG, 3279791, NF5.”. LOWER EDGE OF BACKING HAS WHITE LABEL WITH BLACK PRINTED TEXT “M.G.M. WALL DÉCOR, 317 – 4TH ST. SOUTH, LETHBRIDGE, AB, 328-0923” AND HANDWRITTEN TEXT IN BLACK INK ON LABEL “$120.00”. BACKING HAS FOLDED CORNER IN UPPER LEFT CORNER, AND TEAR IN PAPER AT LOWER RIGHT CORNER. FRONT OF SKETCH HAS GREEN STAINING AT RIGHT EDGE, BLUE-GREY STAIN AT LOWER LEFT EDGE, AND GREY STAINS ON LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES OF IMAGE. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

ON MARCH 5, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED DON FLAIG REGARDING HIS DONATION OF ARTWORKS. THE ARTWORKS WERE COLLECTED BY FLAIG’S PARENTS, HELEN AND LLOYD FLAIG. ON THE SKETCH BY ERNEST RIETHMAN, FLAIG RECALLED, ““THE BOY AND THE TEDDY BEAR”, I WONDER IF MOM DIDN’T HAVE THAT BECAUSE SHE WAS THINKING OF ME. IT LOOKS A LITTLE BIT LIKE I MIGHT HAVE LOOKED, AS A KID, AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY YOUNG AT THAT TIME I THINK THIS ONE WAS DONE.” “I HAVE NO MEMORY OF [KNOWING RIETHMAN OR OTHER SKETCH CLUB MEMBERS]. OCCASIONALLY [MY PARENTS] WOULD MENTION THEIR NAMES, AS YOU MIGHT SPEAK OF FRIENDS. I KNOW THEY WOULD GO OUT, AND DO THE ART ELSEWHERE, OR SOME AT HOME. IT JUST SEEMED NATURAL THAT THEY WOULD DEAL WITH THEIR ARTIST FRIENDS…THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG.” FLAIG ELABORATED ON HIS PARENTS’ AVID INTEREST IN LOCAL ART, NOTING, “MOM AND DAD ALWAYS HAD ART IN THE HOUSE. THEY WERE ALWAYS DOING ART. I REMEMBER DAD DOING LARGE PLASTER SCULPTURES, IN THE BASEMENT, IN THE CITY, AND MOM WAS ALWAYS PAINTING AND THROWING POTS, AND DOING SOMETHING FUNNY OUT IN THE BACK YARD, ART-WISE. GROWING UP, I ASSUMED EVERYBODY HAD ART IN THE HOUSE, BUT I’VE REALIZED THAT’S NOT THE CASE. NOT EVERYBODY LIKES HAVING ART AROUND, ALTHOUGH [THERE IS EFFORT IN] FINDING ART THAT YOU LIKE, AND ACQUIRING IT, OR CREATING IT, AND KEEPING IT. THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT HANGING ON THE WALLS IN THE HOUSE. [MOM AND DAD] WERE ALWAYS MOVING IT AROUND. THESE THREE PAINTINGS [BY MIKE PISKO AND ERNEST RIETHMAN], I’M AWARE THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE FRIENDS OF MOM AND DAD. THEY WERE …ARTISTS. I DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM OTHER THAN THAT THEY WOULD OFTEN GO OUT TO SKETCH, AND PAINT, AND THEIR NAMES ARE FAMILIAR TO ME. [THE ARTWORKS] MEANT SOMETHING TO [MY PARENTS], WHETHER THEY BOUGHT THEM OR THEY WERE JUST GIFTS FROM OTHER ARTISTS, I’LL NEVER KNOW, BUT THERE HAS OBVIOUSLY BEEN A LOT OF CARE AND EFFORT PUT INTO THE WORKS BY THE ARTISTS. I HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF MY MOTHER’S PAINTINGS, BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF THOSE AROUND THE CITY, AND HER WORK IS WELL PRESERVED. THESE ONES…I KNOW THEY ARE LOCAL ARTISTS SOMEWHERE NOW.” FLAIG RECALLED HIS PARENTS AND THEIR HOME IN LETHBRIDGE, “I GREW UP IN TOWN, ON HENDERSON LAKE BOULEVARD. [MY PARENTS] MOVED OUT IN THE EARLY 1970S TO BROXBURN ROAD. SOME OF [THE PAINTINGS] I’D HAVE SEEN THERE AT HENDERSON LAKE BOULEVARD, AND THE REST WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE FARM. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN UP ON THE WALLS, OR DOWN IN THE BASEMENT. THINGS WERE ALWAYS MOVING AROUND, BUT THESE ARE PAINTINGS THAT ARE FAMILIAR TO ME. NOT THAT I PAID THAT MUCH ATTENTION TO THEM, BECAUSE THERE WERE ALWAYS PAINTINGS AROUND, AND I NEVER THOUGHT TO ASK.” “MIKE PISKO IS THE NAME THAT COMES [TO MIND ON ARTISTS MY MOM SPENT MORE TIME WITH]; HAS MORE PAINTINGS, MEMORY-WISE, FOR SURE. OUT ON BROXBURN ROAD, THAT’S WHEN THEY MET THE MALKAS’. MOM SPOKE FREQUENTLY OF MELISSA, AND I PROBABLY MET THEM IN PASSING, BECAUSE I WAS ON TO OTHER STUFF. BUT I THINK THAT, WHEREVER THEY WERE, THEY WOULD HAVE REACHED OUT AND GOT IN TOUCH WITH OTHER ARTISTS. PLUS, WHERE THEY WERE ON BROXBURN ROAD, IT WAS A PLACE WHERE WE COULD DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING—BUILDING THINGS, TEARING THINGS DOWN, MAKING ART, BLOWING STUFF UP, AS KIDS DO. THERE WERE ALWAYS ANIMALS, SOME HORSES, AND ONE DISASTROUS ATTEMPT AT RAISING SHEEP BY MY FATHER. THEY WERE ALWAYS INTO SOMETHING.” ON HIS MOTIVATIONS FOR DONATING, FLAIG ELABORATED, “AS TIME GOES BY, WE FIND THE NEED TO TIDY UP AND GET READY FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF LIFE. PART OF IT IS FINDING ROOM FOR SOME OF THESE WORKS OF ART THAT HAVE BEEN IN MY HOUSE AND HAVE SURVIVED, SOMEWHAT MIRACULOUSLY, SINCE MOM AND DAD LEFT A LITTLE FAR AND I TOOK THEM OVER, AS WE WERE EMPTYING OUT THE PLACE. THEY’VE BEEN IN MY BASEMENT, UNAPPRECIATED, AND I SUPPOSE AT SOME RISK OF BEING FORGOTTEN, OR LOST, OR THROWN OUT. THEY DO HAVE SOME SENTIMENTAL VALUE FOR ME, AND I CAN APPRECIATE THE ARTWORK THAT IS IN THE PIECES, MYSELF, TO A LIMITED DEGREE.” “MOM AND DAD HAD REACHED THE END OF THE ROAD...AS BEING ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR FIVE ACRES…OUT ON BROXBURN ROAD. THESE WORKS WERE IN THEIR PLACE, AND, AS WE CLEANED THE PLACE OUT, I TOOK THEM AND PROTECTED THEM, AND SAVED THEM FROM THE BINS…I’M PUTTING THAT AT 2011.” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, ERNEST EDWARD RIETHMAN, WAS DEVELOPED BY JANE EDMUNDSON IN 2014, USING A LETHBRIDGE HERALD TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM DECEMBER 24, 1964 AND RECORD P20120030007.ERNEST EDWARD RIETHMAN (1895 - 1964) WAS BORN IN SWITZERLAND IN 1895 AND WENT ON TO STUDY ART AT AN ACADEMY IN BASIL, THEN AT THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL OF INTERIOR DECORATING AND PAINTING. IN 1919 HE CAME TO CANADA SETTLING IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1947. HE WORKED AS AN INTERIOR DECORATOR IN THE CITY, AND HIS WORK WAS HIGHLY SOUGHT. HE WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED LANDSCAPE ARTIST AND WOULD FREQUENTLY JOIN TRIPS ORGANIZED BY A.Y.JACKSON, WHOSE STYLE IS SAID TO HAVE HEAVILY INFLUENCED RIETHMAN’S. DURING HIS TIME WITH THE LETHBRIDGE SKETCH CLUB, HE SERVED AS BOTH HEAD OF COMMITTEES AND TAUGHT LESSONS IN FIGURE DRAWING. RIETHMAN WAS SUCCESSFUL IN WHAT HE DID, AS CRITICS ENJOYED HIS WORK AND HE WAS ABLE TO FREQUENTLY DISPLAY IN EXHIBITIONS. ACCORDING TO LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES COMPILED IN 2019, RIETHMAN WAS EXHIBITED FREQUENTLY IN SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS IN LETHBRIDGE THROUGH THE 1950S-1960S. PRIOR TO HIS PAINTING CAREER, RIETHMAN WAS INVOLVED WITH THEATRE GROUPS AND PAGEANTS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, DESIGNING BACKGROUNDS AND CREATING FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS FOR PERFORMANCES. IN 1955, RIETHMAN AND K.E. HUDSON BECAME PARTNERS IN RIETHMAN—HUDSON PAINTING AND DECORATING IN LETHBRIDGE. RIETHMAN’S ARTWORKS WERE OFTEN FRAMED, EXHIBITED AND SOLD AT GAINSBOROUGH GALLERIES, LETHBRIDGE BEGINNING IN 1958. GAINSBOROUGH GALLERIES OPERATED IN CALGARY AND OPENED A BRANCH IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1958, WITH HEINO DEEKEN AS MANAGER IN LETHBRIDGE. GAINSBOROUGH GALLERIES WERE KNOWN TO EXHIBIT ARTWORKS BY SOUTHERN ALBERTA ARTISTS AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE LETHBRIDGE SKETCH CLUB. IN A STATEMENT TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD IN 1962, RIETHMAN STATED ABOUT HIS PRACTICE, “ALTHOUGH I PREFER LANDSCAPES AND OCCASIONAL PORTRAITS, NOW AND THEN I EXPERIMENT A LITTLE FROM NATURALISTIC INTO MODERN STYLE…ONCE IN A WHILE IT IS GOOD [TO] CHANGE STYLE TO KEEP FROM GETTING IN A RUT…I PAINT AS I FEEL AND TO HECK WITH THE PUBLIC. POSSIBLY I’M NOT COMMERCIAL ENOUGH, BUT I PREFER HAVING THE FREEDOM TO EXPRESS MYSELF AS I WISH…I AM GRADUALLY RETIRING FROM BUSINESS…AND PLAN TO PAINT AND PAINT AND PAINT. I MAY NOT BE THE BEST, BUT I CERTAINLY HAVE FUN.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190006001-GA. UPDATE: ON 24 OCTOBER 2019, ERNEST E. RIETHMAN’S GRANDDAUGHTER LINDA BAINES SHARED A “PERSONAL RECORD” WITH MUSEUM STAFF. THE LATTER DAY SAINT DOCUMENT WAS COMPLETED BY HER GRANDMOTHER CLARA S. RIETHMAN--ERNEST’S WIFE. IT IS A HANDWRITTEN CHRONOLOGY OF CLARA’S LIFE IN SWITZERLAND AND ALBERTA. PERSONAL INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE DOCUMENT EXTENDS TO ERNEST’S LIFE . TO SEE THIS RECORD, PLEASE SEE P19705197000’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20190006003

Acquisition Date

2019-03

Collection

Museum

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