William G.R. Hind

Canadian (born in England), 1833–1889

Self-Portrait, c. 1870

oil on paper

24.9 x 17.3 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with The H. Eric Bergman Trust Fund

2003-2

Categories:

Painting, Works on Paper

Emigrating from England in 1851, William Hind quickly emerged as a respected drafts-man in Toronto. He documented a geological expedition into the Labrador Peninsula in 1861. A year later he joined the Overlanders, a group of prospectors on a trek to the Cariboo gold fields in British Columbia, to sketch landscapes and document events. On his return to Toronto in 1869, Hind passed through Winnipeg at the height of the Red River Resistance and lived in the newly formed province for one year. There are eight known self-portraits by Hind, including the WAG painting which was executed around the time the artist was living in Manitoba. In this work Hind represents himself as an intellectually probing and refined gentleman.