signed
Provenance: Masters Gallery, Calgary AB (label verso)
Note: Beginning in 1930, during a trip to The Pas, in northern Manitoba, de Grandmaison began what would become his life’s work, the creation of a visual record of members of the Plains First Nations. The portraits of his subjects spanned more than four decades, and de Grandmaison was known to sketch a favourite subject on several occasions. In this case, the artist is recorded to have painted Wolf Tail several times between 1930 and 1960. Wolf Tail (Apisoh’soyi), was a Peigan healer and herbalist, and did for a time work with the Indian Department.
Reference: pp. 50, 51, 104, and 107 “History in Their Blood: The Indian Portraits of Nicholas de Grandmaison” (Dempsey; Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1982).
