Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

FRITZ SICK OIL PORTRAIT

Date Range From

1935

Date Range To

1945

Materials

GLASS, CANVAS, WOOD

No. Pieces

1

Length

66.2

Width

56.6

Description

FRAMED OIL FULL FACE PORTRAIT OF FRITZ SICK, BUST. ARTIST'S SIGNATURE BR, "DE GRANDMAISON".

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

INDUSTRY

History

THIS PAINTING WAS DONE BY NICHOLAS DE GRANDMAISON (1892-1978), A PORTRATIST WHOSE PASSION WAS DEPICTING THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA. DE GRANDMAISON WAS BORN IN 1892 TO AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY IN RUSSIA. HE STUDIED ART, MUSIC, HISTORY, LANGUAGES, CARTOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY, AND EMIGRATED TO CANADA AFTER BEING CAPTURED AS A GERMAN PRISONER OF WAR IN WWI. DE GRANDMAISON FELT AN AFFINITY WITH THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE OF THE PLAINS, PICTORIALIZING THEIR LIKENESSES AND RECORDING THE ORAL HISTORIES OF HIS SITTERS. DE GRANDMAISON MADE HIS LIVING WITH COMMISSIONED PORTRAITS OF POLITICIANS, BUSINESSMEN, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, SELLING THESE WORKS WHILE KEEPING HIS PORTRAITS OF NATIVE SITTERS IN HIS PERSONAL COLLECTION. DE GRANDMAISON RECEIVED MANY HONORS DURING HIS LIFETIME, INCLUDING INDUCTION INTO THE PEIGAN TRIBE AND HONOURARY TITLE OF CHIEF. WHEN HE DIED, HE WAS BURIED ON THE PIIKANI RESERVE IN BROCKET, ALBERTA. ALLEGEDLY FRITZ AND EMIL SICK HELPED THE ARTIST OUT DURING SOME DIFFICULT TIMES, AND THIS PAINTING WAS A RESULT OF THAT AID (POSSIBLY COMMISSIONED BY THE SICKS). FRITZ SICK FOUNDER OF LETHBRIDGE BREWERY, BORN IN 1859 IN FREIBURG GERMANY, LANDED IN AMERICA IN 1883, TRAVELLED TO CINCINNATI, THE BREWING CENTRE OF U.S TO LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BREWING. LATER WENT TO OTHER BREWERIES IN SAN FRANCISCO, TACOMA, SPOKANE & THEN TO TRAIL B.C. & TO FERNIE WHERE HE FOUNDED FERNIE-FORT STEELE BREWERIES, SELLING OUT IN 1901 HE MOVED TO & BUILT A NEW BREWERY IN LETHBRIDGE & WITH 2 HELPERS RAN THE BREWERY AND WAS THE BREWER,COOPER, MALTSER, SALESMAN & OFFICE FORCE & TURNED OUT 3000 BARRELS/YR. FRITZ SICK DIED IN VANCOUVER IN 1945. SOURCE: SICKS' ENTERPRISER FALL 1945. SEE P19900020001-GA FOR LETHBRIDGE BREWERY HISTORY. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, AND FOUND A CORRELATION WITH THIS PORTRAIT AND ANOTHER OF FRITZ SICK THAT WAS ALSO PAINTED BY NICHOLAS DE GRANDMAISON. SEE RECORD P20130007005 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

Catalogue Number

P19900020024

Acquisition Date

1990-05

Collection

Museum

Less detail