‘Picture Maker’ captured Waterloo life and beyond
World travel ‘seasoned’ artist’s perception
14 paintings by Peter Etril Snyder are slated to be sold at Miller & Miller’s October 24th auction of Canadiana & Historic Objects. Photo source.
Waterloo Region has produced an impressive number of significant artists. But there is no question that two names resonate most strongly when it comes to portraying the region on canvas: Homer Watson, whose work bridged the 19th and 20th century, and Peter Etril Snyder, perhaps the quintessential Waterloo artist, who painted in the 20th and 21st centuries, right up to his death in 2017 at age 73.
Peter Etril Snyder is certainly best known for his depictions of Old Order Mennonite life in Waterloo Region and environs, and for his paintings of horses, a life-long passion of the artist. Five of eight books written and/or illustrated by Snyder have paintings of horses on the cover. Both those themes are well represented in the October 24th Miller & Miller Canadiana & Historic Objects auction.
But Snyder’s interest and artistic skill extended far beyond Waterloo County, reports the Snyder Gallery, quoting the artist himself. “Since my wife and I have no children, we have travelled to the United Kingdom and Europe a great deal since our marriage in 1966,” said Snyder. “That opportunity to visit where, what and when we wanted lead me to artistic influences from across North America, Europe, the U.K. and Ireland many times. We have visited South America, Africa, the South Pacific and New Zealand. We have also had a chance to see Iceland. The spice of the many people that I have met has seasoned my attitude and observation.”
Snyder paintings from England, Ireland, and Canada’s Maritime provinces are also included in the sale.
“Street in Woebley, Hereford” by Peter Etril Snyder, 1996. Offered as lot 500 in Miller & Miller’s upcoming sale.
Peter Snyder was one of the lucky ones. He turned his passion into a life-long career, as perhaps the most financially successful artist who has ever worked in Waterloo. And yet he downplayed his talent. His autobiography eschews the word “artist” – he instead calls himself a “Picture Maker.”
That reality was on public display when Snyder was a guest at the Stratford Garden Festival roughly 20 years ago. Invited to paint in public, he obliged, and revealed his approach – the sides of his large easel were adorned with photographs he had taken of scenes and details from many locales, all of which he brought together in one very realistic – and yet entirely imaginary – scene on the canvas.
He explains that process on the Snyder Gallery website: “For me the act of painting is a pleasant puzzle. I relish the challenge of manipulating the visual information. My attempts are to create something that rings the artistic bell inside me. I remake or transform topics through my aesthetic insight. Only after I have had my way with the elements of a painting, am I ready to offer it out to others.”
Snyder was committed to his community and a significant number of his works were donated to good causes. His painting of the cupola of Castle Kilbride brought the top price in a fundraising auction at the gala opening of that National Historic Site in 1994.
Snyder was married to Marilyn for 50 years, and was close to his family. He was especially close to his brother Doug, who died in 2019. It was Doug who ran the business side of the Snyder gallery, leaving Peter free to paint his iconic images of rural life in Waterloo, and scenes from around the globe. It also left him free to enjoy frequent lunches (always involving more than one pint of Guinness) at the Duke of Wellington in uptown Waterloo. Peter’s obituary accurately described him as a “gregarious man.”
“Parking Sunday Morning” by Peter Etril Snyder, 1977. This piece is offered as lot 140 in the upcoming auction.
Peter Snyder credited an earlier Waterloo painter, landscape artist Mathew Kousal, as a mentor and teacher. But he also acknowledged that his interest in his most famous subject was bred in the bone: “My small town and Mennonite background, riddled with practicality and rural interest, must be considered as a starting point for a singular career… my appreciation for the horses which drew the milk wagons of my father’s dairy somehow drew me back to the traditional Mennonite ways… They represent to me a historic view of what used to be in Ontario but still exists in this little piece of Waterloo region.”
The thousands of fans of Peter Etril Snyder know the best way to capture that “little piece of history” is to have one of his original paintings hanging on their walls. He is gone, but his legacy – capturing history and beauty simultaneously – lives on in all his work.
By Paul Knowles
Paul Knowles is the author of 17 books, including histories of New Hamburg, Castle Kilbride, and the Mennonite Relief Sale and Quilt Auction. His most recent books are The Magic Garden, a whimsical and humourous look at gardening, and Death on the Dun, a murder mystery based in a small town. Paul is also editor and publisher of the annual magazine, Our Heritage/Our Home.
Highlights from the Peter Etril Snyder pieces offered as part of Miller & Miller’s October 24th sale of Canadiana & Historic Objects
Auction Title: Canadiana & Historic Objects
Auction Date: October 24, 2020.
Online Bidding: October 5-24, 2020.
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