LOT 145 CHARLES PACHTER
DRESSAGE, acrylic and coloured pencil on canvas, signed and dated ‘88
48" x 42"; 120 cm x 105 cm
Auction Estimate: $20000 / $30000
Provenance:
Collection of the artist.
Private Collection, Caledon, Ontario.
Literature:
Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, Charles Pachter, Toronto, 1992, colour plates 48, 51, 53, 55, 59 and 60 for other works depicting the Queen and Moose imagery.
Pachter, Charles, M Is For Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet, Toronto, 2008, n.p., reproduced in colour (representing “Q is for Queen, trooping the colour”).
Charles Pachter’s formative years included exposure to images of Queen Elizabeth and her life, an encounter with a moose as a young boy and, perhaps most importantly, witnessing the international emergence of pop art. These revelations impacting the artist’s life led to an iconic representation of two of Canada’s most recognized symbols, the Queen and the Moose.
In Charles Pachter, Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov notes that “in 1972 Pachter became involved with a group of cultural activists and began to reflect on the relationship of art to national identity. By July he was exploring the issue in depth, while collecting images of Queen Elizabeth and of the elusive animal he would come to consider the ultimate symbol of the Canadian psyche – the moose.”
“By the Fall of 1972 he began to concentrate on painting in acrylic, depicting in various Canadian settings the queen alone or accompanied by a moose.” The artist, amazed by the fact that Canada’s Head of State did not reside within the nation which she ruled, presented Canada’s English Monarch together with Canada’s resident Monarch, the Moose, “calling them Monarchs of the North”.
“Pachter first exhibited these new paintings in his Shaw Street studio-gallery in June 1973. This, the first of many Pachter event-openings to follow was scheduled to coincide with Queen Elizabeth’s attendance at the dedication of the Shaw Festival’s new theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario…”.
Depicting the Queen and Moose in a similar pose to Dressage, “Pachter’s signature painting, Noblesse Oblige: Queen on Moose, 1972 depicts Her Majesty giving a military salute astride a moose. She wears her British Trooping of the Colour uniform, which coincidentally resembles the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This striking image is the ultimate transmogrification of his 1970 Noblesse Oblige depicting a Mountie and his horse.”
“Whether this latter Noblesse Oblige was perceived as patently offensive, as merely a playful witticism about the evolving post-colonial British-Canadian relationship, or as a deeper examination of the complexities of nationhood, this soon-to-be-famous painting and its companion silkscreens left little doubt that Charles Pachter had created a powerful and original image that could not be ignored.”
The artist recalled some public hostility during the initial introduction of his imagery featuring the juxtaposition of two of the nation’s most recognizable icons. Besides press headlines describing Pachter’s new work as “mischievous”, the artist also received mail from locations around the world, many of the correspondents not grasping Pachter’s “important examination of the Canadian psyche”.
In M Is For Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet, the About the Images section describes the historical background to Dressage, providing details on the Monarch’s ceremonial attire: “The British custom of Trooping the Colour dates back to the 17th century when the colours of regiment were displayed to rally troops for battle. For the first time, in 1805, Trooping the Colour was performed to mark the birthday of King George III. Since the 1950s this display of pageantry takes place in June each year to celebrate the official birthday of the Queen. In London, when she was much younger, the Queen attended the event seated sidesaddle on her horse. In this painting, Charles depicts Her Majesty seated sidesaddle on a moose, symbolizing her role as Canada’s head of state.”
Charles Pachter’s paintings of Queen Elizabeth and the Moose are among the most recognizable images of pop art to originate from Canada. Works depicting the Monarchs of the North hang in significant private collections in Canada and internationally. One such work was gifted to Queen Elizabeth, while both Princes William and Harry received the iconic images from their father, Prince Charles, after he requested them from the artist during a visit to Canada. The heir apparent was delighted by Pachter’s imagery and felt that the Princes would greatly appreciate this unique portrayal of their Grandmother.
(We extend our thanks to Charles Pachter for providing important
information for the cataloguing of this work).
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