American School, late 19th c.
Alpine Skiers

Signature (l.l.): illegible, “St. Paul”
Oil on canvas
27” x 22”, 32” x 27” (frame)
Over-all in fine condition, minor in-painting to the sky. Housed in a period-19th c. frame and mounted on a white pine stretcher with iron “Shattuck” stretcher keys, patent dated Feb 13 1883, which were manufactured in New Britain, Connecticut at the Malleable Iron Works Foundry.

The image depicted in this painting of two men in 19th century ski gear traveling down a snow-covered mountain was likely derived from a 19^th century German woodblock print, titled “Snow Grouse Hunters on the Norwegian Highlands” from nature by Vincent Lerche in Dusseldorf. The same depiction exists as an undated watercolor illustration signed (lower left): A Tidemand.

Adolph Tidemand (1814-1876), a Norwegian painter known for his depictions of Norwegian culture, studied and worked in Dusseldorf (the epicenter for Norwegian artists working in the mid-19^th century), as a member of the Dusseldorf School, owning a studio there that in 1872 sold to Vincent Stoltenberg Lerche (1837-1892), another Norwegian artist, illustrator and author, who first arrived in Dusseldorf in 1856, enrolling in the Academy of Art and studying under fellow Norwegian, Hans Gude (1825-1903). Tidemand had met and established a working relationship with Gude earlier, during an 1843 visit to Hardanger, resulting in a close friendship and several collaborations. Tidemand would paint figures into landscapes painted by Gude, who, at the time, struggled with figure painting.

The woodblock image attributed to Lerche was included in the 1872 printing of Chatterbox, accompanying the short story White Grouse Hunters on the Mountains of Norway. The image used by this London-based publication, that was also printed in Boston by Estes and Lauriat is distinguishable by its cropped margins and shortened caption; “White Grouse Hunters” (omitting the artist identification) while the original German woodblock printed version portrayed the plate in its entirety, with full caption in German below.

While the printed image clearly depicts two “hunters” further identified as “White Grouse Hunters on the Mountains of Norway,” the artist responsible for this American oil on canvas rendition took liberty to make the obvious omission of both hunter’s firearms and their kill (white grouse), possibly amending the image to more appropriately reflect the image of Norwegian immigrant skiers in the St. Paul region of Minnesota in the last quarter of the 19^th century. Although this theory cannot be confirmed, the notation “St. Paul” is believed to follow the signature (lower left), helping to reinforce this line of thinking. St. Paul, Minnesota was the birthplace of modern skiing in America, brought by Norwegian immigrants who, in 1885, established the first American ski club there. The Scandinavian Ski Club of St. Paul hosted the first official skiing tournament to be held in the United States during the Winter Carnival of 1887.