Art in Focus: “Stopped to Talk” by Allen Sapp, OC, RCA

"Stopped to Talk," 1977; Painting; acrylic on canvas; Allen Sapp, OC, RCA: Born Red Pheasant Reserve, Saskatchewan, 1929; Died North Battleford, Saskatchewan, 2015; University of Alberta Museums, University of Alberta Museums Art Collection; 1977.31.2

Nêhiyaw (Cree) artist Allen Sapp is widely known for his observational paintings that depict scenes of daily life on the Canadian Prairies. From a quiet scene of a beadworker to people singing and dancing at a gathering, Sapp’s work captured not only the spirit and practices of Plains Cree people, but conveys memories of his own family and early childhood. A descendant of Chief Poundmaker, Sapp was encouraged by his grandmother Maggie Soonias to draw and paint as a young person, and soon began selling his work door-to-door upon his move to North Battleford as an adult.¹

In his painting Stopped to Talk (1977.31.2), Sapp presents a scene where two couples on horse-drawn sleds meet in a snowy field. Sapp once recalled how “on holidays or Christmas people drove over to some friends to get food and drink together. When I was a little boy, my brothers, Stella and me, I remember we pulled a blanket over us in the sleigh, my father driving the team.”² The painting provides a glimpse of a time where life was slower and how families once traveled and socialized with one another.³

While largely grounded in his personal experiences, Sapp’s work is also documentary in nature. His paintings tell the story of Indigenous people on the prairies during the mid-twentieth century and serve as a critical “bridge for other cultures to come to understand the Indian way of life and the world view underlying it.”⁴

For his portrayal of Plains Cree life, Sapp was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975 and appointed to the Order of Canada in 1986. By 1985, the Allen Sapp Gallery opened in North Battleford, Saskatchewan to celebrate the artist’s work. A former Carnegie Library, the historic building was renovated and made into a public art gallery which continues to hold the largest collection of Sapp’s work. His work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, as well as the University of Alberta Museums Art Collection.

¹  https://teaching.usask.ca/indigenoussk/import/sapp_allen_1929-.php 

² Sapp, Allen. Through the Eyes of the Cree and Beyond: The Art of Allen Sapp - The Story of a People (North Battleford, SK: Allen Sapp Gallery, 2005) 46.

³ Ibid., 106.

⁴ Ibid., 20.

This web story is part of the University of Alberta Museums Art Collection Spotlight Series, a collection of web stories aimed to share works of art from the University of Alberta Museums Art Collection with the world. Posted monthly, these stories connect works of art in the Collection to important matters on our campus and in our world.