Robert Clow Todd

ROBERT CLOW TODD
Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, about 1809 – Toronto 1866

Corbeau at Montmorency Falls
1845
Oil on canvas
53.5 x 67.3 cm

Purchase, Donald Luc Boisvert and Gaston Lamontagne Fund

This work of exceptional historical value is the first by the artist to enter the MMFA’s collection. It illustrates the ties the artist had with the prosperous timber merchant, builder and shipowner Allan Gilmour. In 1845, Gilmour commissioned Todd to paint his trotting horse Corbeau (the French word for crow), who got his name from his shiny black coat.

In creating the painting, in which we see Corbeau charging ahead in a race he is about to win, the artist was no doubt instructed to choose the most powerful background possible. The Montmorency Falls in winter – considered a hallmark of the Quebec landscape – augments the nobility of the composition. Corbeau and his driver are placed in the centre of the composition, like the falls themselves. They are framed on the left by a man holding a red flag at the finish line and, on the right, by spectators who appear to be cheering their clear victory, not another sleigh in sight.

Few works are attributed to Robert Clow Todd, and the most important among them are held in major Quebec and Canadian museums. The MMFA is therefore very proud to announce its recent acquisition of one of his iconic works.