Frederick Simpson Coburn

Frederick Coburn began his artistic studies at the Council of Arts and Manufacturers in Montreal, followed by classes at the Carl Hecker School of Art, New York (c. 1889-90); Akademie der Künste, Berlin (1891); École des Beaux-Arts, Paris (1892); Slade School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, London; Académie Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp. Coburn lived in Antwerp from around 1896 until 1913. Coburn subsidized his studies abroad by a lucrative early career as an illustrator of literary works by poets and authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. After settling back in Canada, Coburn turned to oil painting around 1914 and soon specialized in works depicting horse and oxen drawn sleds in Laurentian and Eastern Township settings. In 1927 Coburn was made a full member of the Royal Canadian Academy. His work is represented in major public collections in Canada, England, Australia, Europe, Japan, and the United States.