Wiiliam Raphael  RCA "Early bird gets the worm"  signed and dated lower left c.1868.
Painted on board and framed.
 
About the artist:
 
William Raphael was the first Jewish professional artist to establish himself in Canada. He was a sensitive and modest individual with three loves: his family, including his dogs; nature; and art. Raphael is best known for his exemplary portraits and lively Canadian genre scenes.
 
Like his older Canadian contemporaries, Paul Kane (1801-1871) and Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872), Raphael gained recognition for capturing the habitant and First Nations way of life in his new land. His exhibited works were favourably reviewed and he was credited as being "one of the cleverest artists, an old favourite to Montreal" and "perhaps one of the most thoroughly educated historical painters in Canada." Although less known for his quiet landscapes, religious paintings, still lifes and anatomical drawings for medical lectures and publications, or for his restoration of church canvases, he was also regularly acknowledged in the newspapers for his contributions to the field of art education, both in public institutions and in his own private school.
 
Raphael was a product of his background and training, for which he was highly respected early in his career and well into his middle years. However, tragically, at the climax of his artistic output there was a shift in aesthetic tastes that affected his career and his previous momentum. He suffered greatly as a result.