Tandem, 1869

With its diagonal composition, Tandem is a dynamic painting that highlights the reality of the Canadian winter, with the darkness on the horizon portending a snowstorm. The work was immediately presented to the public by gallery owner William Scott, who must have been delighted to discover this new piece by an esteemed painter. It was praised in the January 29 edition of the Evening Star, which noted that the “peltering and indefinite [sic] storm of snow and hail… is very characteristic of our winter.”

Although it was not unusual to see sleighs represented in Canadian art—they appear in works by artists from James Peachey (d.1797) to Cornelius Krieghoff (1815–1872)—the painting, with its depiction of children and a winter storm, reflects Raphael’s interest in themes that had been relatively unexplored at the time. Art historian Mario Béland’s description of the work could not be more accurate:

[A] boy, in a hurry to avoid the storm, drives a sled loaded with firewood and pulled by two dogs. On either side of the sled, two other boys keep the beasts moving with their shouts, sticks or whips. Farther back, standing out against the dark mass of clouds, a woman sunken in the snow, probably the mother, painstakingly follows the group with the youngest child. To the left, at the bottom of a hill, the typical Canadian log cabin!

Despite the threat of the coming snow, the work exudes joyfulness. The children, no doubt pleased with the speed of their sled, make funny faces. The one on the left even smiles broadly as he shows the young driver how to place his hands to control the steering. Even the work’s title, Tandem, was chosen to amuse the viewer: at the time, the word “tandem” was used to describe luxurious sleighs pulled by two horses, harnessed one in front of the other. Raphael’s depiction of these young people, whose makeshift sleigh is simply pulled by two dogs, is also a sly nod to the prestigious Tandem Clubs of Montreal and Quebec City, whose excursions were elaborate parades to show off their members’ wealth and refinement.

In a sign of its success, the 1869 composition was repeated in another version in 1878, with more emphasis placed on the young boys, who have managed to turn the winter chore of fetching firewood into a game. The mother, seen in the earlier piece trudging through the snow with her youngest child in tow, has disappeared, and the blackened sky heralding the storm now gives a slight glimpse of clearing.