Two "Canadian" Artists Cross Paths Across the Centuries
In the story of Canadian art, productivity has always been part of the conversation. Volume alone doesn’t define an artist, but when sustained high output meets genuine connection with collectors, it becomes part of how a culture’s creative spirit evolves. Two painters, separated by nearly two centuries, now find their paths crossing on the scoreboard of total production. One helped shape how Canada saw itself in the 19th century. The other is quietly building something new in the 21st.
Our stories move in opposite directions across oceans, yet both speak to the same restless drive to create and immerse oneself fully in a place.
The European Eye Arrives in Canada
Cornelius Krieghoff was born in Amsterdam in 1815. Trained in Germany, he crossed the Atlantic around 1837, spent time in the United States, and eventually settled in Canada with his French-Canadian wife. He lived and worked in Montreal and Quebec City. He was not born Canadian: he was an immigrant who brought a European-trained eye to his new home and fell in love with its landscapes and people.
Public estimates place his combined lifetime output at roughly 1,500 to 1,800 works, including original oils and the prints he produced or licensed. There is no apparent complete modern catalogue raisonné, but based on conservation studies and major collections, his body of significant original oil paintings is generally understood to sit in the 800–1,200 range. He achieved this over approximately 42 years by painting popular motifs repeatedly: winter sleigh rides, habitants, Indigenous scenes, country balls, and dramatic Canadian landscapes, while being entrepreneurial in a more limited 19th-century market.
The Canadian Eye Heads to China
My own path has been the reverse. Born and raised in Canada, I moved to China more than 25 years ago, primarily basing myself in Chengdu, Sichuan. I began as a writer/publisher and only committed fully to painting in the summer 2015 and began carefully tracking sales in early 2017. I have sold 1,067 significant original oil paintings and placed or did artist exchanges of 103 more: 1,170 substantial works on canvas or board, excluding my 6,000+ custom digital 1/1's, sketches, 120 prints, or 1200 small format works (Hpngbao Paintings, I call them, gifted as part of my philanthropic and international friendship ethos).
At my current pace, it appears I have either already surpassed, or will surpass within the next year or so, Krieghoff’s estimated lifetime total of significant original oils. This realization comes with deep respect for his achievement. Krieghoff worked in a classical, relatively efficient style: trained European techniques with thinner paint application and more direct, flat rendering. My Abstract Portalism, by contrast, is far more time and materials-intensive: heavy palette-knife impasto, fused and unique multi-canvas constructions of substrates (perhaps the only new House of Painting in the past 70 years), metallics, layered ink-wash foundations and Mosaics, and thick textural builds that can take many sessions per piece.
While I benefit from modern marketing channels and global connectivity, the truth is I still do the vast majority of the work myself as a Sovereign Artist: from creation in the studio to client relationships, shipping, and documentation. There is no large team or institutional machine behind the numbers. It’s a very hands-on, personal journey.
Parallel Drives, Contrasting Languages
The contrasts are striking. Krieghoff moved from Europe to Canada, bringing realism and narrative genre painting to interpret his adopted land. I moved from Canada to China, absorbing Eastern influences: ink traditions, seasonal energy, cultural resonance and channeling them into contemporary abstraction. He filled his canvases with people and stories; I deliberately avoid figures (animals are welcome) and instead aim to create emotional and spiritual portals.
Both of us worked entrepreneurially in our own eras, finding ways to connect directly with buyers rather than waiting solely for gatekeepers. Both of us have seen a place with the heightened awareness that comes from living between cultures.
As I approach or cross this particular milestone, I feel mostly gratitude and reflection. It’s humbling to stand in the shadow of a foundational figure like Krieghoff, even as our styles and eras differ so greatly. His work helped define a visual identity for early Canada. My hope is that my own body of work adds something meaningful to the ongoing conversation about what Canadian art can be: global, abstract, textured, and alive with cross-cultural energy.
Looking Ahead: The Next Mountain
If I continue at this pace, my next natural point of comparison will be another iconic Canadian artist: Jean Paul Riopelle, one of our country’s most celebrated abstract painters. Riopelle’s catalogue raisonné and scholarly estimates place his significant oil paintings at around 2,000 works across a long career. As a fellow abstract painter working with texture, energy, and large-scale ambition, that feels like a more direct artistic conversation. I hope to explore that comparison in a future article for Abstract Art Magazine.
For now, I remain grateful for the journey so far: from Krieghoff’s snowy narratives to the vibrant portals I’m building today. The canvas keeps expanding. The work continues. And the dialogue between past and present grows richer with every stroke.