James Henderson -- 1871-1951 -- Exhibitions, Indigenous peoples in art, Mendel Art Gallery -- Exhibitions, James Henderson -- 1871-1951, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatchewan, Exhibition catalogs, First Nations -- History, Indigenous peoples in art -- Exhibitions, Oral History -- Canada, Oral history, Canadian painting -- Exhibitions, Canadian painting, Painting 

"This book explores the fascinating life and work of Saskatchewan pioneer artist James Henderson (1871-1951). Henderson is one of of the central figures in the first generation of professionally trained artists who came to live in Saskatchewan around the turn of the last century. Born in Glasgow, he studied at the Glasgow School of Art and worked in London as a commercial artist. In 1910 he came to Canada, first to Regina and then to Fort Qu'Appelle where he spent the rest of his life. Henderson was fascinated by the landscape of the Qu'Appelle Valley and the Indigenous peoples of the Canadian West, and was one of a few artists in Western Canada to make his living solely through his art. The University of Saskatchewan commissioned him to paint a series of portraits of individuals from the Western tribes in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These portraits, along with his landscape paintings—especially those of the Qu'Appelle Valley, which are enduring poetic reveries of the passing seasons and times of day—were exhibited nationally and internationally, assuring him a prominence few artists could match during this time.

This book documents the first comprehensively researched retrospective of Henderson's portraits, landscape paintings, and commercial illustrations, organized by Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery. The exhibition and book examine Henderson's work, not just to recover our past but also to inform our present and shape our future. Considered in this way, Henderson's artwork has an enduring social and aesthetic value and its message never ceases to evolve; it serves as a touchstone for the transformation of knowledge of self, society, and place. The book maps a set of aesthetic, social, and historical sketches of Henderson's life, times, and work to give a glimpse into the construction of history and identity in the Canadian West, and how this understanding is transformed and valued by different generations through time. Framed by Henderson expert and collector James Lanigan's comprehensive chronology of Henderson's life, this book documents the complete exhibition in many colour illustrations, and explores the culture of his time from both settler and Indigenous perspectives. It includes essays by Co-Curators Dan Ring, Chief Curator at the Mendel Art Gallery, and Dr. Neal McLeod, Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at Trent University, as well as essays by Indigenous researchers Linda Many Guns, Sherry Farrell Racette, and Susan McArthur, and a poem by Lynn Acoose."--Book jacket. 

223 pages : illustrations (some colour), facsimiles, portraits ; 30 cm. 

Contents:
Qu'Appelle, circa 2009 / Lynn Acoose
Foreword / Vincent J. Varga
Chronology of the life, career, art and legacy of James Henderson / James Lanigan
James Henderson: a reflected life / Dan Ring
Rethinking indigenous history: James Henderson's paintings as mnemonic icons / Neal McLeod
Spirit warriors of the high plains / Linda Many Guns
Pains Cree men's clothing (1895-1926) / Sherry Farrell Racette
Profiles of Standing Buffalo, Tatanka Najin (1833-1871) / Susan McArthur
Note on James Henderson's materials and signatures / James Lanigan.

Language Notes:
Includes some text in Blackfoot, Cree, and Dakota.