Book: Of Prairies Past: Vintage Canadian Prairie Motifs

by Fritz Stehwien
Published by Landscape Art Publishing
Review by Michelle Shaw
$29.95 ISBN 9780991964994

When German -Canadian artist, Fritz Stehwien, arrived in Saskatchewan in 1968 he was enchanted by what he saw and began painting and sketching whenever he could. Of Prairies Past is the latest collection of his works, and features a variety of prairie scenes, both rural and urban, captured in oils, pastels, pen and ink and charcoal drawings.

This small hardcover book features 39 different prairie motifs from the iconic grain elevator to tiny country churches, the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon skyline. The North Battleford and Melfort Post Offices are featured (both in the 1970s), along with Whitkow Church (1990s) and the Medical Arts Building (1970s) at the University of Saskatchewan.

One of Stehwien’s gifts is capturing moments in time. I loved his sketch of a milk delivery truck in the 1970s, delivering milk while the neighbourhood children, all bundled up, slide down the snowbanks on sleds. I was also fascinated to see a drawing of a ski jump pictured at the University of Saskatchewan. The drawing also dates to the 1970s. Naturally I turned to Google and sure enough the ski jump was constructed in 1936 and measured 25 metres (86 feet), making it at the time the highest ski jump in Western Canada! It was closed in 1974 when the ski jump at Mt Blackstrap was built and finally demolished in 1978. But apparently you can still see remnants of the jump on the Meewasin trail.

The book also features scenes of the city in the 1970s, including a pastel drawing of a Saskatoon neighbourhood before new infill houses were built. At the back of the book there is a helpful list of all the places featured.

Fritz Stehwien was born and educated in Germany where he trained in fresco and mural painting. He ultimately worked in a variety of mediums including pastel, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, oil and even woodcuts. After settling in Saskatchewan, he taught art classes, took commissions for portraits and had a number of exhibitions of large landscapes in oil and watercolor. Stehwien died in 2008 and left behind an estate of thousands of works.

The book is dedicated to the friends and family who “invited this immigrant artist to their beautiful corner of the prairies and inspired these many works”.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM