Buffalo Hunt of the Plains Indians on Horseback – Original Illustration of Native American Life

This remarkable original painting is by William Wallace Armstrong. He used watercolor, pastel, graphite in his work. Armstrong’s original art rarely appears on the market, and are mostly now held in museums.

William Wallace Armstrong (1822-1914) was born in Ireland and emigrated to Canada in 1851. He worked as an engineer and partnered at Armstrong, Beere & Hime Civil Engineers, Draughtsmen and Photographers. However, his legacy would be his original artwork. His early watercolors produced there were often of industrial sites, forts, and harbour scenes in Toronto.

He took a trip to Lake Superior in 1859 that changed his life and inspired his artistry. He painted the frontier, Native American life and encampments, the Great Lakes, the fur trade, and mining sites. His travels weren’t well documented, but he drew from what is now Northern Ontario, Fort William (now Thunder Bay), and the area. His watercolors were presented to the Prince of Wales and remain in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.

Provenance: Thomas George Fardell (1833-1917), collected in 1861, and thence by descent.

For further information about Armstrong read: William Armstrong, 1822-1914 by Janet E. Clark, Thorold J. Tronrud and Michael Bell (Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1996)