Margin Notes: Krieghoff, Bikes, Cranes, 'BZ

Kennedy Park near Bloor and Runnymede in Toronto, Ontario looked quiet on 4-February-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The works of Dutch painter Cornelius Krieghoff have been mentioned on this blog before. This winter, I think I have grown to understand his fascination with winter in what was then Lower Canada, even if I am in what was then Upper Canada. The scene at Kennedy Park in my neighborhood looked like an urban version of a Krieghoff painting to me, but no man with a dog walked by to complete the scene so I was left with the emptiness above.

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An anti-war message adorned a bicycle along Bloor Street West in Toronto on 3-February-2009

Not far away from Kennedy Park on Bloor Street, I found the above bicycle parked in the snow at dusk. The concept of a bumper sticker or rear-window sticker certainly is not new, but I think this is the first time I've seen a readable message on the rear of a bicycle. Appropriately, the bicycle was not far from an open house on the Georgetown South rail corridor covered last week.

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VIA Rail Canada train #84 from Sarnia, Ontario passed the construction cranes at the West Toronto diamonds on 2-February-2009

One of the minor questions I asked at that open house was whether the construction going on at the West Toronto diamonds was really going to lead to a four-track right-of-way on the current CN Weston Subdivision underneath the CP North Toronto Sub. As shown in the photograph above taken on Monday, it sure looks like the retaining walls being constructed leave room for only two tracks. Perhaps these are only for the purpose of making a "shoo-fly" track for use during the construction, but I wonder.

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My eyes weren't deceiving me on the world wide web earlier this week. Starting on Monday, CBC Television's The National started using their High Definition format on the Internet archive of the program, instead of the traditional television format. Of course, most of the advantages of HD are completely missing on the web, but it still struck me as an interesting change--television as we knew it is changing north of the border, as well.

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Another media organization deserves credit for doing some things correctly. Last month, I criticized twice WBZ Newsradio 1030 out of Boston, Massachusetts for ending their overnight talk show and not replacing morning sports reporter Gil Santos. Apparently, audience complaints have paid off, as WBZ has re-hired Steve LaVeille for the overnight slot and Walt Perkins will take Santos' morning sports slot. While the lack of overnight news reporting and an incredibly obscure time slot for Lovell Dyett (4:30 am Sunday) have been noted by Scott Fybush's Northeast Radio Watch, at least it now appears that WBZ is trying within the confines of decreasing ad revenue to maintain its brand, and it should be commended for that. Perhaps there is hope for the radio business yet.

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Is there hope for the concept of "read dating"? The combination of speed dating and book clubs came to Seattle last week at the University Book Store. In an interview with KUOW's Ross Reynolds before the Thursday event, spokesperson Stesha Brandon noted that plenty of women that expressed interest in the eight-minute one-on-one book discussions, but no men had said they would come. Apparently they did, as a blog posting on Friday implied that the event was a success. I have a feeling that the over-age-30 restriction placed on the meeting may have had something to do with that--unless the plan is to share things read on a Kindle or iPhone, I have my doubts the concept would work with members of Generation Y.

Heritage: Tennison on Krieghoff

A sign from a Krieghoff exhibition to which Bill Tennison had contributed

TORONTO, ONTARIO - While born in Amsterdam, painter Cornelius David Krieghoff spent most of his 19th-century life in Canada and thus is regarded as a premier Canadian artist, and he is particularly beloved here for his focus on Canadian winter landscapes. Among those especially appreciative of his work is Swansea Historical Society member Bill Tennison, who spoke about Krieghoff and shared some of his extensive collection during the society's meeting at Swansea Town Hall on 5-November-2008.

Tennison has collected Krieghoff works for much of his life, and his common interest in Krieghoff fostered a friendship with the late newspaper mogul Ken Thompson. Between the two of them, Tennison and Thompson provided the resources to complete special exhibitions on the artist in Canada and to help historians determine the status of many purported Krieghoff works--including one that proved to be completed on one half by Krieghoff and one half by another artist.


Bill Tennison held a print of Krieghoff's "Bilking the Toll"

Of the 1100 to 1300 Krieghoff paintings ("we're still finding them," Tennison notes), probably the most famous are the 33 (known, anyway) variations of "Bilking the Toll" in which a horse-drawn sleigh runs through a toll booth in the snow. Tennison noted that 30 of them have the sleigh going from right to left, while only 3 have them going from left to right.

Like many artists, Krieghoff was not fully appreciated during his lifetime, and while he did not die starving poor, neither did he die as wealthy as the sums that his works command today would imply.


Bill Tennison answering an audience question

The holiday season is when Krieghoff is most noted today. His many works on early Canadian scenes tended to depict the winter, and hence make excellent Christmas cards and other winter holiday fare. The overview of Cornelius Krieghoff's career from Bill Tennison served as an appropriate signal that the holiday season--and winter--is just around the corner.