Presented by Signature Partner
Apr 17, 2026
On the Black Chair I
Christiane Pflug was celebrated for her realist paintings that drew from her domestic life
Christiane Pflug. On the Black Chair I, 1963. Oil and resinous glazes on canvas, Overall: 55 x 46.2 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Anonymous Gift, 1998. © Estate of Christiane Pflug. 98/475
A child’s doll is the subject of this RBC Art Pick by German-born Canadian painter Christiane Pflug (1936-1972). In On the Black Chair I (1963), a Shirley Temple doll lies on its back, eyes closed, as if resting. A multi-coloured string of beads is wrapped around the doll's arm. While the scene might suggest a child’s abandoned playtime, the doll’s reclined position evokes a darker, more unsettling tone.
Born in Berlin, Pflug began painting at 17 after moving to Paris. She initially studied fashion design, but became more interested in art. While in Paris, she met her husband, physician and painter, Michael Pflug, who encouraged her to pursue art. After a period in Tunisia, where Pflug gave birth to her two daughters, Esther and Ursula, the family eventually settled in Canada in 1959. Though she was largely self-taught, it didn’t take long for Pflug to establish herself in the Canadian art scene. She became represented by the Issacs Gallery in 1962 and had her first exhibition that same year. In 1964, Pflug sold every one of the 21 paintings on view at her solo exhibition held at Issacs Gallery.
The high demand was for Pflug’s realist paintings, which drew directly from her immediate environment. She used realism not to depict accuracy, but rather, as she shared, “to make [her] vision visible." Pflug was part of a small group of Canadian artists in the 1960s who routinely and intensely depicted domestic life and family in their work. For Pflug, this meant painting her daily experiences as she navigated both motherhood and being a working artist. She frequently depicted domestic scenes from within her home, as well as her views of the outside world through her windows and doors.
Her daughters were also frequent subjects in her work, and when they were unavailable, she turned to their dolls. From 1963 to 1965, Pflug began painting her daughters’ dolls in carefully constructed domestic scenes throughout her house. On the Black Chair I was painted in the upstairs room of Pflug’s home on Woodlawn Avenue. Pflug liked to return to the same subject from different perspectives or in slightly modified positions. As the title suggests, On the Black Chair I is the first of three paintings depicting this Shirley Temple doll, the other paintings depicting the doll seated upright on the chair with its eyes open and positioning the doll seated away from the viewer with the chair facing a window.
For Pflug, it was natural to draw inspiration from everyday life happening within the walls of her home: “You have to treat painting as a private part of your life,” she stated in 1968. “I work in an enclosed and private world.”
Visit On the Black Chair I by Christiane Pflug, on view now on Level 2 of the AGO in the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous + Canadian Art in the Wilder Gallery (gallery 228).
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