Cornelius David Krieghoff

Cornelius David Krieghoff, a Canadian artist born Amsterdam, was the son of a German father and Belgian mother. In the early 1830s, he may have studied at the Düsseldorf Academy before emigrating to the U.S. in 1836, where he enlisted in the American army and fought in the Seminole Wars. After being discharged in 1840, he married French-Canadian Emile Gautier and later moved to Paris in 1844 to study at the Louvre. Settling in Longueuil and Montreal around 1847, Krieghoff’s early works focused on local scenery and portraits, often featuring his family. He became the first Quebec artist to specialize in genre painting, encouraged by merchant John Budden. This style gained great popularity, capturing scenes of daily life in Quebec. Krieghoff spent time in Europe in the 1860s and may have visited Chicago before passing away there in March 1878.