Henry Sandham (24 May 1842 – 21 June 1910)
was a Canadian painter and illustrator. He was the brother of author and numismatist
Alfred Sandham.
Biography
Born in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Sandham decided at an early age to pursue an artistic career, and was employed in
William Notman's photographic studio from 1864 when he was 14 years old. By 18, he was an assistant to Notman's partner
John Arthur Fraser, who managed the studio's art department. As there was no art school in Montreal at the time, Sandham learned his craft from Fraser, as well as local artists
Otto Reinhold Jacobi, Adolphe Vogt, and
C. J. Way. When Fraser left Montreal in 1868 to open a Toronto branch of Notman and Fraser, Sandham became the new head of the art department. He became
partners with Notman in 1877 and the studio was renamed Sandham & Notman from 1877 to 1882.
The Notman studio was renowned for its
composite photographs, consisting of carefully posed photographs of individuals mounted on painted backgrounds, a technique devised by Sandham. One particularly challenging composite, consisting of more than 300 separate people, won an award at the 1878
Exposition Universelle in Paris.

In 1877, he began doing illustrations for ''
Scribner's Monthly'', with his first piece accompanying an article by
William George Beers. He then followed up with his own article in November 1878, and illustrations for a four-part series by
George Monro Grant in 1880. All of these efforts led him to be named a charter member of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, founded in 1880.
In 1865, Sandham had married Agnes Fraser, the sister of his mentor. In early 1880, Sandham and his wife toured England and France. In December, they were visiting
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, intending only stay for a short while to complete some portrait
commission
In-Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
s, but instead they ended up staying there for nearly twenty years. It was at this time when he decided to focus more on art and less on business.
In 1882, ''
The Century Magazine'' (the successor to ''Scribner's'') sent him on assignment with
Helen Hunt Jackson to
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
to investigate the lives of
Mission Indians. That work was published in 1883 and eventually formed the basis of her 1884 best-selling novel ''
Ramona'', for which Sandham also supplied illustrations (in a 1900 edition). Besides his illustrations, he was also known for portraits, including one of Canadian Prime Minister
John A. Macdonald, and his historic paintings. During his period in Boston, his works were regularly shown at the
Boston Art Club and the
American Watercolor Society of New York, and he exhibited at Hermann Wunderlich's New York gallery in 1888 as well as the
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...
(1893),
Cotton States and International Exposition
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
(1895), and
Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition (1897).
His mural of the
Battle of Lexington, ''The Birth of Liberty'', appeared on two United States
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
s issued to commemorate the event, one in 1925 and another in 1975.
Sandham moved to London in 1901, and continued his career there, with works shown at the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
from 1905 to 1908. His wife died in 1906, and he died in 1910. He is buried in
Kensal Green Cemetery.
Gallery
File:Fête Nationale 24 juin 1874 Montreal.jpg, ''The Grand National Parade of June 24–25, 1874'', ink on paper (1874)
File:JosephHoweByHenrySandham.png, Joseph Howe (1875)
File:Henry Sandham - The Sluice.jpg, ''The Sluice'', ink on paper (1886)
File:Hy Sandham, Bicycling, 1887.jpg, ''Bicycling'', watercolour (1887)
File: The March of Time, by Henry Sandham.jpg, ''The March of Time'', oil on canvas (1896)
File:Henry Sandham - The Coming of the Loyalists.jpg, ''The Coming of the Loyalists'', a romanticized view of the Loyalists' arrival in New Brunswick
File:Lenore (1885) pg 29.jpg, one of the illustrations for an edition of Poe's Lenore
Record sale prices
At the Cowley Abbott Auction, Important Canadian Art (Sale 2), December 1, 2022, Lot #111, ''Catching Waterlilies'' (1889), oil on canvas, 24 x 34.5 ins (61 x 87.6 cms ), Auction Estimate: $50,000.00 – $60,000.00, realized a price of $156,000.00.
At the Cowley Abbott Auction, Artwork from an Important Private Collection - Part II, June 8, 2023, ''Low Tide, Murray Bay'', oil on canvas (1884), 20 x 34 ins ( 50.8 x 86.4 cms ), Auction Estimate: $60,000.00 - $75,000.00, realized a price of $192,000.00.
Associations
*
Art Association of Montreal
*
Boston Art Club
* Boston Society of Watercolor Painters
*
Copley Society
*
Ontario Society of Artists
* Paint and Clay Club
*
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
* Society of Canadian Artists
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandham, Hy
1842 births
1910 deaths
19th-century Canadian painters
Canadian male painters
20th-century Canadian painters
Canadian illustrators
Artists from Montreal
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
19th-century Canadian male artists
20th-century Canadian male artists
Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Canadian genre painters