BERTHOLD VON IMHOFF

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Nestled in the prairie bluffs of the rolling plains of Northern Saskatchewan was one of North America's most unique Art Galleries. It was near St. Walburg that an artist, who had won the Art Academy Award in Berlin at the age of sixteen, painted for a quarter of a century, leaving well over 200 paintings in his studio alone, after his death in 1939.

Berthold Imhoff was born in 1868, in a castle rising from the wooded banks of the River Rhine, Germany. At the age of seven, his canvasses were echoing the deep and quiet beauty of the Rhineland. He studied at art schools of high repute, at Halle and Dusseldorf, where he acquired his technique of bold vigorous brush work, dark colors and strong contrasts. At the age of sixteen Imhoff won the Berlin Art Academy Award for his painting of Germany's Prince Frederick William mounted on a charger, and refused an offer of $3000.00 for the picture.

At age 24, oppressed by the inflexibility of European society, the artist nobleman left his homeland to settle in Reading, Pennsylvania. There he became an itinerant artist, travelling throughout the Eastern United States, painting murals and frescoes in public buildings, many churches, and in private homes.

Early in 1914, feeling again the return of society's unwitting tyranny, he joined a band of settlers heading for Saskatchewan's northwest frontier, where he hoped to find an isolated retreat, which he found in the area which is known today as St. Walburg. In the quarter century which followed, Imhoff covered canvas after canvas while working in his lavishly decorated studio near St. Walburg. He enriched numerous churches throughout the Province with his religious paintings, usually executed without payment.

In 1937 he was knighted (Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great) by Pope Pius XI, for his outstanding work to churches in North America. During his career he decorated over 112 buildings including churches, opera houses, fraternal halls, public buildings and private homes. He completed his paintings of the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary for Holy Rosary Church in 1920 at Reward, Sask.

Although Imhoff was best known for his religious paintings, his collection included many portraits, landscapes, historical and still life masterpieces. His self-portrait and portrait of his wife are two outstanding works of art. Of particular interest to the people of this area are his murals and frescoes in churches at Leipzig, Muenster, St. Benedict, Denzil, Reward, St. Leo, Humboldt, Paradise Hill, St. Walburg, North Battleford and Bruno.

In 1891, Imhoff was married in Philadelphia to Mathilda Johner, who was a helpful critic of her husband's work. They had 9 children, six of whom were living when they moved to Canada. In 1939, Imhoff died at his home in St. Walburg, at the age of 71, leaving behind well over 200 paintings in his studio alone. None of these have ever been sold. Up to 1983 his studio at St. Walburg was cared for by his son, Carl, and his family, and was one of the outstanding tourist attractions of Saskatchewan's northwest. In 1983 this entire Imhoff art collection moved to Lloydminster, and is now housed and on display in the Barr Colony Museum Building in Weaver Park. The work of this master artist survives in unfading richness and it is yours to enjoy at the "Imhoff Art Gallery" in Lloydminster.