Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"WHITE TRAPPERS AND BLOOD INDIANS"

Date

1898

Materials

OIL PAINT, WOOD, LINEN

No. Pieces

1

Height

4.5

Length

90.0

Width

123.0

Description

OIL PAINTING IN WOOD FRAME. HORIZONTAL LANDSCAPE SCENE, GREEN GRASSLAND AND BLUE SKY. ACTION SCENE TAKES UP THE FOREGROUND, WITH FOUR HORSES RACING ACROSS. ON THESE HORSES ARE THREE RIDERS, THE RIGHTMOST LOOKING BACK AND SHOOTING A GUN. THE LEFTMOST RIDER CENTERED IN THE PAINTING, WITH HIS HAT FLYING OFF BEHIND HIM AND HIS HORSE PITCHING AT AN ANGLE. LEFT OF THIS CENTER HORSE IS A RABBIT, RUNNING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF THE HORSES. A DUST CLOUD RISES BEHIND THE HORSES, AT THE END OF WHICH, IN THE LEFT BACKGROUND, ARE EIGHT INDIGENOUS RIDERS, CHASING THE CENTER RIDERS WITH WEAPONS ALOFT. IN BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER, IN BLACK PAINT, THE SIGNATURE READS “O SELTZER … 98”. THE PAINTING RESIDES IN A RED WOOD FRAME WITH A BROWN WOOD TRIM AND A WHITE FABRIC MAT. THE FRAME MOUNTS TO THE CANVAS WITH EYELET HOOKS AND SCREWS. TWO OTHER EYELET HOOKS AND STRETCHED WIRE ON BACK OF FRAME SERVE AS HANGING HARDWARE. BACK OF FRAME IS UNFINISHED. BLACK SPECKLING IN THREE PLACES OF MAT; ALONG LEFT SIDE, IN THE CENTER OF BOTTOM, AND IN CENTER OF RIGHT SIDE. BACK OF CANVAS STRETCHERS HAVE HOLES ALONG TOP EDGE. DENTS ALONG ALL EDGES OF THESE STRETCHERS AT SEMI-UNIFORM DISTANCE, LIKELY FROM A DIFFERENT FRAME. BESIDES THESE MAJOR MARKS, STRETCHERS ARE DENTED, WORN AND SCRATCHED ALONG ENTIRE BACK SURFACE. SLIGHT STAINING AND FINGERPRINTS ALONG BACK OF FRAME.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

ON MARCH 13, 2020, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED BARBARA AND ERIC HILLMAN REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF AN OLAF SELTZER PAINTING. ON HOW SHE ACQUIRED THE PAINTING, BARBARA RECALLED, “MRS. ARMSTRONG GAVE THE PAINTING TO MY FATHER [CLEVE HILL]…DAD WAS A GREAT CHARLIE RUSSELL FAN, AND CHARLIE RUSSELL AND OLAF SELTZER WERE PALS AND COLLEAGUES…DAD HAD A VERY BIG COLLECTION OF CHARLIE RUSSELL PRINTS AND MRS. ARMSTRONG KNEW THIS…DAD DID THINGS FOR HER AS SHE BECAME ELDERLY. JUST LITTLE BANKING THINGS AND HE HELPED WITH HER WILL...SHE DECIDED THAT SHE WOULD LIKE HIM TO HAVE [THE PAINTING] AND SO SHE GAVE IT TO HIM.” “DAD…WAS IN LETHBRIDGE BUT HE INDICATED TO ME…THAT, I SHOULD HAVE THE PAINTING BUT I LIVED IN CALGARY AND I DIDN’T HAVE A PLACE TO PUT IT AND SO HE, KEPT IT THERE IN THE HOUSE ON DIEPPE BOULEVARD AND THEN IT WENT TO SOUTH PARKSIDE DRIVE..., AND THEN LATER IT WENT TO THE ACREAGE JUST OUTSIDE OF COALDALE, WHERE THEY MOVED. …WE TOOK OVER THE ACREAGE AND THE PAINTING BECAME IN MY POSSESSION I GUESS. THEN ERIC AND I ALSO GOT TO THE POINT WHERE WE... MOVED INTO LETHBRIDGE TO THE HOUSE THAT WE’RE AT NOW, AND THAT WAS ABOUT 14 YEARS AGO AND WE BROUGHT THE PAINTING WITH US.” ON WHY HER FATHER GAVE HER THE PAINTING, SHE ADDED, “WELL, I’M AN ONLY CHILD SO THERE WASN’T ANYBODY ELSE IN THE FAMILY AND I WAS THE ONE THAT HE RODE HORSEBACK WITH AND- AND I WANTED IT.” GROWING UP WITH THE PAINTING IN THE FAMILY HOME, BARBARA RECALLED, “WE WERE A HORSE FAMILY AND, SO DAD AND I IN PARTICULAR RODE HORSEBACK ALL THE TIME…WHEN I LOOKED AT THAT PICTURE I WOULD SEE THE HORSES AND IT’S VERY MUCH…SYMBOLIC TO ME BECAUSE OF THE HORSES…I GUESS THE TRAPPERS AND…THE HISTORY THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT. IT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS.” “DAD TOOK IT DOWN…TO THE CHARLIE RUSSELL MUSEUM, IN ABOUT MARCH OF 1975. THE MUSEUM IS IN GREAT FALLS, AND THEY HAVE AN OLAF SELTZER ROOM THERE…I THINK [DAD] REALLY LIKED [THE PAINTING] AND SO HE AND HIS FRIEND RUSSELL FAIRHURST TOOK IT DOWN ACROSS THE BORDER…[DAD] WANTED THE CURATOR, OF THE MUSEUM TO LOOK AT THE PICTURE AND SEE…WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH IT…THE CURATOR THERE RECOMMENDED THAT THE PAINTING BE CLEANED…THE ONLY PLACE TO HAVE IT CLEANED AT THAT POINT IN TIME WAS IN SAN FRANCISCO APPARENTLY. AND SO IT WENT FROM GREAT FALLS TO SAN FRANCISCO AND…WHEN IT CAME BACK, THE RABBIT THAT’S IN THE BOTTOM LEFT HAND PART OF THE PAINTING HAD TURNED UP…WE REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS THAT THE RABBIT HAD SCARED THE HORSE…AND SO THE HORSE WAS GOING TO GO DOWN. AND THAT MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY THAT WE SAW THE PAINTING.” IN A LATER EMAIL TO KEVIN MACLEAN DATED AUGUST 28, 2020, BARBARA ADDED, “ONE OF THE REASONS DAD WAS SO FOND OF THAT PAINTING WAS THAT HE WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE. AS A RESULT, DAD AND I WERE ALLOWED ONCE A YEAR TO RIDE ON HORSEBACK ACROSS THE RIVER TO THE SITE OF WHOOP UP, WHERE THE JAYCEES HAD ERECTED A CAIRN.” ERIC ADDED ABOUT THE PAINTING, “I ALWAYS WAS ATTRACTED TO ARTWORKS THAT TOLD A STORY, OR IMPLIED A STORY AND THAT GAVE MEANING FOR ME. AND THIS WORK CERTAINLY DOES TELL A STORY. ITS TITLE INCLUDES THE NOTION OF AN INDIAN WAR PARTY AND IT INCLUDES THE NOTION OF TRAPPERS BEING CHASED. AND SO QUESTIONS COME TO MY MIND. THE INDIAN TERRITORY WAS OFTEN SORT OF USED BY NON-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FOR TRAPPING. THERE WERE HORRIBLE STORIES ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER OF BISON BY TRAPPERS SIMPLY FOR THEIR FURS AND SO ON. AND SO, QUESTIONS COME UP AS TO WHETHER THESE TRAPPERS WERE TRAPPING ON INDIAN LAND. QUESTIONS COME UP AS TO WHETHER THEY STOLE THE FURS THAT THEY WERE PACKING. AND SO IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE IF EITHER OF THOSE THINGS HOLD THAT THE INDIANS ARE GOING TO DEFEND THEIR TERRITORY. THEY’RE GOING TO DEFEND THIS AGAINST THEIR NON-INDIGENOUS INTRUDERS. AND THE FACT THAT THEY’RE CHASING BUT STILL IN THE DISTANCE ON A BACKGROUND AND A RABBIT APPEARS AND SPOOKS A HORSE WHICH MAY MEAN THE DOOM OF THESE TRAPPERS IS AN INTERESTING STORY TO ME.” IN A LETTER DATED DECEMBER 30, 1952, TO MRS. ARMSTRONG FROM OLAF SELTZER, GIFTED WITH THE PAINTING TO CLEVE HILL, SELTZER STATES, “I PAINTED ONLY TWO LARGE CANVASES DURING MY STAY IN LETHBRIDGE. THE FIRST AND LARGER ONE FOR MR. DOWNER. THE SECOND ONE SOME-WHAT SMALLER ABOUT 2FT 6IN HIGH BY 3FT 5IN LONG, WHICH MUST BE THE ONE YOU NOW OWN. THIS OIL-PAINTING I PAINTED FOR A YOUNG MAN WHO HAD A STORE CLOSE TO THE LETHBRIDGE HOTEL, AND I REMEMBER HIM AS THE SON OF THE YARD-MASTER ON THE NARROWS GAUGE, MR. SEMAN. I THINK WE CALLED THE YOUNG FELLOW –“KID”- SEMAN, AND HIS SMALL STORE WAS A NEWS-STAND WITH CANDY, TOBACCO AND STATIONARY SUPPLIES AND A HANG-OUT FOR US YOUNG FELLOWS WORKING ON THE OLD TURKEY TRAIL. THE –“KID”- BEING A YOUNG FELLOW WANTED ACTION IN HIS PAINTING FOR THE STORE, SO, NO DOUBT, HE HAD ME KILL EVERYBODY OFF IN THIS RUNNING FIGHT BETWEEN THE WHITE TRAPPERS AND THE BLOOD INDIANS.” AN ARTICLE TITLED “OLAF SELTZER: THE ARTIST MONTANA ALMOST FORGOT” DATED MARCH 1970, STATES ON SELTZER’S TIME IN LETHBRIDGE, “[SELTZER] WAS EMPLOYED AS AN APPRENTICE BY THE GREAT NORTHERN. HE WORKED TOO, FOR THE B.A.&P. RAILROAD BETWEEN ANACONDA AND BUTTE IN WESTERN MONTANA, AND ON THE OLD NARROW GAUGE OUT OF LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA...ACCORDING TO JAMES FORREST, FRED DOWNER…WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING SELTZER TO EMBARK IN PAINTING. INSISTED FOREST: ‘IN 1897, SELTZER RODE OVER THE NARROW GAUGE RAIL LINE FROM GREAT FALLS TO LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, WHERE HE WAS ENCOURAGED BY FRED DOWNER, WHO HAD ADMIRED HIS SKETCHES, TO TRY PAINTING IN OILS. A KIT OF PAINTS AND MATERIALS WAS IN TIME SHIPPED UP THE LINE FROM GREAT FALLS AND OLAF MADE HIS FIRST OIL PAINTING- AN INDIAN WAR PARTY ON THE TRAIL IN THE SUN RIVER VALLEY. FROM THIS FIRST EFFORT, SELTZER PROVED TO BE AT HOME IN OILS AS WELL AS IN WATERCOLORS…’” THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, OLAF SELTZER, HAS BEEN COMPILED WITH THE ARTICLE “OLAF SELTZER: THE ARTIST MONTANA ALMOST FORGOT” AND “OLAF AND HIS ATTIC STUDIO: A FRONTIER PAINTING THAT CHANGED A LIFE” FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD DECEMBER 14, 1948, AS REFERENCE. OLAF C. SELTZER WAS BORN IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, IN 1877. HE ENROLLED IN THE INSTITUTE OF ART & TECHNOLOGY AT COPENHAGEN BEFORE HIS FATHERS DEATH ENDED HIS EDUCATION THERE. INSTEAD, SELTZER AND HIS MOTHER MOVED TO AMERICA TO JOIN HIS UNCLE IN MONTANA, WHERE HE WOULD LIVE FOR THE MAJORITY OF HIS LIFE. AFTER SPENDING HIS EARLY YEARS WORKING FOR LIVESTOCK OUTFITS, HE TURNED TO WORK AS A MACHINIST FOR THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY. THROUGHOUT THIS TIME SELTZER CREATED ART, THOUGH HE WOULD NOT TURN TO FULL-TIME PAINTING UNTIL 1926. HE BEGAN PAINTING IN EARNEST IN 1897, ALONGSIDE CHARLES M. RUSSELL, ANOTHER PROLIFIC MONTANA ARTIST, BEFORE GOING IT ALONE FROM 1921 ONWARD. ALSO IN 1897, SELTZER CAME TO LETHBRIDGE TO WORK ON THE NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY, STAYING IN AN ATTIC ROOM AT THE LETHBRIDGE HOTEL, OWNED AT THE TIME BY FRED DOWNER. HE SOLD SKETCHES AT THE HOTEL FOR 50 CENTS EACH AND TRIED OIL PAINTING, GIFTING HIS FIRST OIL PAINTING TO MR. DOWNER AND LEAVING SHORTLY AFTER. THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER SELTZER CREATED BOTH WATERCOLOUR AND OIL PAINTINGS, MOST FAMOUSLY DEPICTING LIFE AND PEOPLE IN THE AMERICAN WEST. HE IS FAMOUS FOR HIS MINIATURE WORKS AND HAS OVER 2,500 PAINTINGS CREDITED TO HIM. HE DIED IN GREAT FALLS, MONTANA, IN DECEMBER OF 1957 AT THE AGE OF 81. BARBARA’S FATHER, RICHARD CLEVELAND "CLEVE" HILL PASSED AWAY IN 2009. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DONATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, COPIES OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, AND OTHER QUOTED REFERENCES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20200007000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20200007000

Acquisition Date

2020-03

Collection

Museum

Less detail