| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | "[As a portrait painter] ... he travelled different parts of the States and managed to accumulate sufficient means to carry out his daily project of visiting the old world and fulfilling himself in his art by the study of the old masters."1 1871
George W. Allan (1822-1901)2 | | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | Paul Kane began his artistic career as a decorative furniture painter and in the Toronto Directory for 1833-34 he was listed as a "Coach, Sign and House Painter." By the second half of the 1830s, he was making his living as an itinerant portrait painter. He visited a number of American cities and by 1840 he was painting portraits in Mobile, Alabama. The years 1841 to 1843 were spent studying the great art of Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, and London thereby achieving "the cherished dream of his existence."3 | | | | | | | | 1An excerpt from George W. Allan's handwritten notes pertaining to Paul Kane's life and career. Department of Anthropology Paul Kane Collection, Royal Ontario Museum. 2George William Allan (1822-1901) of Toronto - barrister, Senator, Mayor of Toronto, Chancellor of Trinity College, President of the Western Canada Savings and Loan Company - was one of Paul Kane's main patrons and supporters. 3Quote taken from the Anglo-American Magazine, May 1855, pp. 401-402. | | | |
