Although Frederick Simpson Coburn is best known for his bright, impressionistic winter sleigh scenes, an appreciation of Coburn’s oeuvre would be incomplete without consideration of his exquisite works in the still life, an outstanding example of which we offer here. The quality of Coburn’s work of the still life, figures, illustrations, and etchings show his important contribution to Canadian art well beyond the canon of Impressionism.

He was likely Canada's most highly trained artist as well as  among the most versatile. Coburn was first trained in Montreal at the Council of Arts and Manufactures School, then in New York at the Carl Hecker School of Art and afterward at the Berlin Academy. Coburn explored Europe, painting in Munich, Potsdam, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Leopoldville. Coburn enrolled in Paris’ prestigious École Nationale et Spéciale des Beaux-Arts. After three years of training in Paris, he was accepted at the Slade School of Art in London.

Coburn’s wife, Malvina Scheepers, an accomplished artist in her own right, was Belgian. Clearly the appreciation of qualities of light and colour and perhaps even the symbolism of flowers showcase his training in the region Holland & Belgium and, of course the influence of Malvina. In fact there are a few paintings in the still life that are identified clearly as being painted jointly and signed by both. While Malvina passed away in 1933, Coburn continued to paint for another 20 years.