Lot 51: PAUL KANE 1810 - 1871

PAUL KANE 1810 - 1871 THE DEATH OF OMOXESISIXANY OR BIG SNAKE published by Fuller and Bencke, Victoria Hall, Toronto, Canada West, February 1860 colour lithograph 35.6 by 44.5 cm. 14 by 17 ½ in.

Kenneth R. Lister, Paul Kane, the Artist, Wilderness to Studio, essay by Arlene Gehmacher, Toronto, 2010, illustrated in colour, pp. 371 and 373, for both canvas and lithograph, reproduced in colour

Private Collection, Toronto

This lithograph, based on Kane's painting in the Royal Ontario Museum, was made in February 1860 for G.W. Allan, by Hermann Bencke. "Omoxesisixany" was a noted Blackfoot Indian Chief. Only three other copies are known to exist at the Royal Ontario Museum, the National Gallery and the Glenbow Museum, Calgary.

This chromolithograph described as "a triumph of art never before achieved in Canada" (Globe and Mail, Feb. 24, 1860) required seventeen plates, one for each colour.