Last week we received the following letter from a reader responding to the article "Face of Fiction" [June-July 2012] by Sarah Scott. Mr. Stewart is correct in that Gertrude Kearns should be acknowledged. In fact, her sketch is among the illustrations in our Photo Gallery of the exhibit review for 1812: One War, Four Perspectives.
"I suggest that Sarah Scott literally missed the bigger picture when she overlooked Tecumseh’s 2008 portrait by Canadian artist Gertrude Kearns. Kearns was commissioned by the Royal Canadian Military Institute to create portraits of both General Brock and Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, which were unveiled at RCMI in November 2008.
I am attaching a pdf of the program from that unveiling. The artist, who was part of the Canadian Forces Artists Program in Afghanistan, took the time and care to research collections of clothing, weapons and personal items associated with the man, the circumstances of his life and the period, as well as interview and sketch a direct descendant together with other Shawnee individuals in Oklahoma, before creating a series of study sketches from live models in Toronto.
This was an important creative project with a significant historical purpose by a highly accomplished and recognized Canadian artist resulting in a pair of portraits as well as studies (now owned by the Canadian War Museum) that I should think warrant some acknowledgement in your article."
ANDREW M. STEWART
TORONTO, ONTARIO