The celebrated Saskatchewan Cree painter Allen Sapp, who died on Dec. 29, parlayed an impoverished rural childhood into rich subject matter for artworks that were prized by collectors.
Mr. Sapp attracted an international following for his romantic depictions of Depression-era reserve life – thanks in part to the help of a patron in North Battleford, Sask.
Although Mr. Sapp made a good living from his art, early adversity taught him compassion. A shy man, Mr. Sapp possessed a gracious demeanour and humility that remained with him throughout his storied life.
Allen Frederick Sapp was born on Red Pheasant Reserve on Jan. 2, 1928, to parents Alex and Agnes Sapp. The legendary Cree peacemaker Chief Poundmaker (1842-1886) was also among his ancestors.
Allen was the third of seven children, four of whom (Julia, Virginia, John and Henry) died as children. Only he and his siblings Simon and Stella lived to adulthood.
During Allen’s childhood, Agnes, his mother, was in poor health, so he lived with her parents at Red Pheasant, about 35 kilometres south of North Battleford. His grandmother named him Kiskayetum, Cree for “he perceives it,” during a grave illness because she believed Allen had a bright future to fulfill.
His parents and siblings resided at Little Pine Reserve, about 100 kilometres northwest of Red Pheasant. The distance from his immediate family, combined with his frequent childhood illnesses, left their mark on the sensitive young man.
Agnes Sapp lived in a sanitarium for most of her son’s childhood. She died of tuberculosis in 1942, when Allen was 14; he contracted spinal meningitis the same year.
“Because Allen was sick, he observed children at play but he didn’t have the stamina to join them,” says Leah Garven, curator of the Allen Sapp Gallery, in North Battleford. “Allen was a watcher and observer. The perspective of his work is rather interesting because it’s through the eyes of a child.”
Mr. Sapp experienced another form of isolation at the age of 12 when he was sent to the Onion Lake residential school. Mr. Sapp took up watercolours at the school, finding solace in imagery over words. Mr. Sapp never learned to read or write.
Mr. Sapp’s maternal grandparents, Albert and Maggie Soonias, operated a cattle ranch with more than 200 head of cattle. His grandmother encouraged her young charge to draw.
“The family lived close to the land,” Ms. Garven says. “Maggie is also a central theme in his work. The Soonias were the last generation to live the old way; Sapp documented that period.”
The young artist’s interest in drawing and painting continued into adulthood. He would depict boys playing hockey and domestic scenes of his Cree grandmother picking berries or waiting for water to boil.
Mr. Sapp married Margaret Paskemin Whitford, of Little Pine Reserve, in 1955. She gave birth to their only son, David, in 1957. (David would die as a young man.)
In 1963, after the death of Mr. Sapp’s grandparents, the couple moved to North Battleford, where they rented the upper storey of a house. Mr. Sapp worked part-time at a craft store; he painted at home at night. The ambitious painter peddled his work on the street and door-to-door in an effort to make a living as an artist.
In 1966, during one of his plucky salesman cold calls, Mr. Sapp met his benefactor and lifelong friend, Allan Gonor, at the North Battleford Medical Clinic. Dr. Gonor purchased a painting from Mr. Sapp and gave him money to buy more art supplies.
The doctor recognized Mr. Sapp’s talent and encouraged him to focus on autobiographical themes in his work. Mr. Sapp’s new patron promised to buy anything he painted – until he realized the prolific Mr. Sapp was producing as many as two paintings a night. The doctor then looked for ways to expand Mr. Sapp’s audience beyond North Battleford.
He introduced Mr. Sapp to Saskatoon painter Wynona Mulcaster, who mentored the artist and hosted his first exhibition on the grounds of her home in September, 1968.
Seven months later, a collection of Mr. Sapp’s work was exhibited at Saskatoon’s prestigious Mendel Art Gallery and attracted 12,000 viewers. In 1970, Mr. Sapp had concurrent shows in London’s Alwin Gallery and in Los Angeles. He was one of the first Canadian native artists to enjoy international acclaim.
CBC broadcast the documentary Allen Sapp, By Instinct a Painter, in 1971, and two years later the National Film Board of Canada produced a documentary on the artist called Colours of Pride. The now celebrated artist from Red Pheasant Reserve was elected to the exclusive Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975.
The couple’s son, David, died when he was about 20 years old. After David’s death, the Sapps adopted a three-year-old girl named Faye.
Mr. Sapp was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1987. His other distinctions include a Saskatchewan Award of Merit (1985), an honorary doctorate from the University of Regina (1988), a Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts from the Saskatchewan Arts Board (1996) and the Governor-General’s Literary Award for illustrating the children’s book The Song Within My Heart (2003).
“Allen Sapp had good management during his 50 years in the art market,” Rod Green of Masters Gallery in Calgary says. Whenever Mr. Sapp had an exhibit at his gallery, Mr. Green had clients lined up down the block.
“In his prime, Sapp had gallery representation in half a dozen cities across Canada. And he’s the only artist I know [on the Prairies] with his own gallery,” Mr. Green says.
The Allen Sapp Gallery opened in 1989 in North Battleford. Ruth Gonor donated 80 paintings from her late husband’s collection. (Dr. Gonor died in 1985 and his wife died in 2015.) Mr. Sapp’s artistic legacy was secure.
Allen Sapp Gallery curator Ms. Garven never saw the inside of Mr. Sapp’s studio. “He painted at night. And he was very private with his studio space. He never let people watch him paint. Dr. Gonor filmed Mr. Sapp with a Super 8 camera in the 1960s.”
The archival footage revealed that Mr. Sapp, who was self-taught, didn’t do a working sketch before he painted on canvas. “He just started blotting on paint. He worked intuitively,” Ms. Garven says.
Ms. Garven first handled Mr. Sapp’s painting as a “grunt girl” for the 2003 travelling exhibition Through the Eyes of the Cree and Beyond. “I spent a lot of time packing and unpacking his paintings,” Ms. Garven recalls.
“As a Prairie person, you can look at an Allen Sapp painting and tell what the temperature was that day. Because he was able to accurately reflect the light and the wind and all of those elements into his work. When it’s colourful, that means it’s cold,” Ms. Garven says.
“Allen Sapp had no pretense,” says Marcus Miller, director of the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery at the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon. In Mr. Miller’s former position as director of galleries in North Battleford, he curated a 2010-11 Sapp exhibition titled Portraits: Painting, Face-pulling and Storytelling.
“We danced together as a group on the evening of the reception. It was a highlight for me. Knowing Allen was an enriching experience,” Mr. Miller says.
Mr. Miller notes that Mr. Sapp’s authentic work attracted an international fan base. “We had a world map at the entrance to the Allen Sapp Gallery. There were visitors pinned on that map from Germany, Australia … all over the world. His work held wide appeal.”
Mr. Sapp liked to sing and play his drum for gallery visitors when he was on site. His hospitality was generous and unbounded. He revelled in the company of others and loved sharing his culture and work, especially with young gallery goers.
Fittingly, Mr. Sapp’s work is not the exclusive purview of museums and wealthy collectors. “Since Sapp went door-to-door selling his canvases, many North Battleford residents own an original Sapp landscape painting,” Mr. Miller says.
He recalls Mr. Sapp as a compassionate and sensitive man. Echoing this sentiment is Faye Delorme, whom Mr. Sapp and his first wife adopted at the age of 3 in 1977.
“I never saw my father lose his temper,” Ms. Delorme says. “He was so kind, perceptive and very generous.”
If Mr. Sapp witnessed a hungry stranger wandering the grocery aisles who looked as if they couldn’t afford to shop, he’d buy food for them, Ms. Delorme says. The same generous traits that made Mr. Sapp a charitable citizen were also evident in his close relationships.
In 1990, Mr. Sapp married Margaret Berryman, a white woman. Mr. Sapp was a devoted husband. His petite spouse was often spotted perched affectionately on his knee at gallery events. The couple even sipped from the same coffee cup. After his wife died in 2011, Mr. Sapp slept nightly with a photo of her on his pillow.
Suffering from heart problems, he died peacefully in his sleep last week at River Heights Lodge in North Battleford, just shy of his 88th birthday. During the last decade of his life, he continued painting despite his declining health.
Allen Sapp leaves his daughter, Ms. Delorme; brother, Simon; sister, Stella; and extended family.