Fine Canadian Art Catalogue - Heffel

untitledHEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
VANCOUVER • TORONTO • OTTAWA • MONTREAL HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE SALE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013, TORONTO
VVVVVISITISITISITISITISIT
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FINE CANADIAN ART AUCTION
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013
7 PM, FINE CANADIAN ART
PARK HYATT HOTEL, QUEEN’S PARK BALLROOM
4 AVENUE ROAD, TORONTO
2247 GRANVILLE STREET
PREVIEW AT GALERIE HEFFEL, MONTREAL
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 THROUGH
PREVIEW AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ART CENTRE
15 KING’S COLLEGE CIRCLE
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 THROUGH
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VANCOUVER • TORONTO • OTTAWA • MONTREAL
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE CATALOGUE SUBSCRIPTIONS
A Division of Heffel Gallery Inc.
TORONTO
13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E1 Telephone 416 961~6505, Fax 416 961~4245 E~mail: [email protected], Internet: www.heffel.com
MONTREAL
1840 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, Quebec H3H 1E4 Telephone 514 939~6505, Fax 514 939~1100
VANCOUVER
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OTTAWA
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CALGARY
CORPORATE BANK
Royal Bank of Canada, 2 Bloor Street East Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8 Telephone 604 665~5710, 800 769~2520 Account #06702 003: 109 127 1 Swift Code: ROYccat2 Incoming wires are required to be sent in Canadian funds and must include: Heffel Gallery Inc., 13 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2E1 as beneficiary.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman In Memoriam ~ Kenneth Grant Heffel President ~ David Kenneth John Heffel Auctioneer License T83~3364318 and V13~155938 Vice~President ~ Robert Campbell Scott Heffel Auctioneer License T83~3365303 and V13~155937
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Heffel Fine Art Auction House and Heffel Gallery Inc. regularly publish a variety of materials beneficial to the art collector. An Annual Subscription entitles you to receive our Auction Catalogues and Auction Result Sheets. Our Annual Subscription Form can be found on page 124 of this catalogue.
AUCTION PERSONNEL
Audra Branigan and François Hudon ~ Client Services Lisa Christensen ~ Calgary Representative Kate Galicz ~ Director of Appraisal Services Andrew Gibbs ~ Ottawa Representative Brian Goble ~ Director of Digital Imaging Patsy Kim Heffel ~ Director of Accounting Lindsay Jackson ~ Manager of Toronto Office Lauren Kratzer ~ Director of Client Services Bobby Ma, John Maclean and Anders Oinonen ~ Internal Logistics Alison Meredith ~ Director of Consignments Jill Meredith ~ Director of Online Auctions Max Meyer ~ Digital Imaging, Photography Specialist Jamey Petty ~ Director of Shipping and Framing Kirbi Pitt ~ Director of Marketing Tania Poggione ~ Director of Montreal Office Olivia Ragoussis ~ Manager of Montreal Office Judith Scolnik ~ Director of Toronto Office Rosalin Te Omra ~ Director of Fine Canadian Art Research Goran Urosevic ~ Director of Information Services Clara Wong ~ Administrative Assistant
CATALOGUE PRODUCTION
Victoria Baker, Lisa Christensen, Dr. François~Marc Gagnon, Andrew Gibbs, Dr. Ross King, Lauren Kratzer, Joan Murray and Rosalin Te Omra ~ Essay Contributors Brian Goble ~ Director of Digital Imaging Kate Galicz, David Heffel, Robert Heffel, Naomi Pauls, Iris Schindel and Rosalin Te Omra ~ Text Editing, Catalogue Production Jasmin D’Aigle and Max Meyer ~ Digital Imaging Jill Meredith and Kirbi Pitt ~ Catalogue Layout and Production
COPYRIGHT
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PREVIEW
Telephone 416 961~6505
Fax 416 961~4245
AUCTION
Saleroom Cell 1 888 418~6505
MAP OF PREVIEW AND AUCTION LOCATIONS
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15 King’s College Circle, Toronto
Telephone 416 961~6505
Fax 416 961~4245
AUCTION
Saleroom Cell 1 888 418~6505
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
112 HEFFEL SPECIALISTS
122 CATALOGUE ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
123 CATALOGUE TERMS
123 HEFFEL’S CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT, ETHICS AND PRACTICES
124 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM
124 COLLECTOR PROFILE FORM
126 ABSENTEE BID FORM
SELLING AT AUCTION
Heffel Fine Art Auction House is a division of Heffel Gallery Inc. Together, our offices offer individuals, collectors, corporations and public entities a full~service firm for the successful de~acquisition of their artworks. Interested parties should contact us to arrange for a private and confidential appointment to discuss their preferred method of disposition and to analyse preliminary auction estimates, pre~sale reserves and consignment procedures. This service is offered free of charge.
If you are from out of town or are unable to visit us at our premises, we would be pleased to assess the saleability of your artworks by mail, courier or e~mail. Please provide us with photographic or digital reproductions of the artworks and information pertaining to title, artist, medium, size, date, provenance, etc. Representatives of our firm travel regularly to major Canadian cities to meet with Prospective Sellers.
It is recommended that property for inclusion in our sale arrive at Heffel Fine Art Auction House at least 90 days prior to our auction. This allows time to photograph, research, catalogue, promote and complete any required work such as re~framing, cleaning or restoration. All property is stored free of charge until the auction; however, insurance is the Consignor’s expense.
Consignors will receive, for completion, a Consignment Agreement and Consignment Receipt, which set forth the terms and fees for our services. The Seller’s Commission rates charged by Heffel Fine Art Auction House are as follows: 10% of the successful Hammer Price for each Lot sold for $7,500 and over; 15% for Lots sold for $2,500 to $7,499; and 25% for Lots sold for less than $2,500. Consignors are entitled to set a mutually agreed Reserve or minimum selling price on their artworks. Heffel Fine Art Auction House charges no Seller’s penalties for artworks that do not achieve their Reserve price.
BUYING AT AUCTION
All items that are offered and sold by Heffel Fine Art Auction House are subject to our published Terms and Conditions of Business, our Catalogue Terms and any oral announcements made during the course of our sale. Heffel Fine Art Auction House charges a Buyer’s Premium calculated at seventeen percent (17%) of the Hammer Price of each Lot, plus applicable federal and provincial taxes.
If you are unable to attend our auction in person, you can bid by completing the Absentee Bid Form found on page 126 of this catalogue. Please note that all Absentee Bid Forms should be received by Heffel Fine Art Auction House at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of the sale.
Bidding by telephone, although limited, is available. Please make arrangements for this service well in advance of the sale. Telephone lines are assigned in order of the sequence in which requests are received. We also recommend that you leave an Absentee Bid amount that we will execute on your behalf in the event we are unable to reach you by telephone.
Payment must be made by: a) Bank Wire direct to our account, b) Certified Cheque or Bank Draft, unless otherwise arranged in advance with the Auction House, or c) a cheque accompanied by a current Letter of Credit from the Buyer’s bank which will guarantee the amount of the cheque. A cheque not guaranteed by a Letter of Credit must be cleared by the bank prior to purchases being released. We honour payment by VISA or MasterCard for purchases. Credit card payments are subject to our acceptance and approval and to a maximum of $5,000 if you are providing your credit card details by fax or to a maximum of $25,000 if the card is presented in person with valid identification. Bank Wire payments should be made to the Royal Bank of Canada as per the account transit details provided on page 2.
GENERAL BIDDING INCREMENTS
Bidding typically begins below the low estimate and generally advances in the following bid increments:
$100 ~ 2,000 .............................. $100 INCREMENTS
FRAMING, CONSERVATION AND SHIPPING
As a Consignor, it may be advantageous for you to have your artwork re~framed and/or cleaned and restored to enhance its saleability. As a Buyer, your recently acquired artwork may demand a frame complementary to your collection. As a full~service organization, we offer guidance and in~house expertise to facilitate these needs. Buyers who acquire items that require local delivery or out~of~town shipping should refer to our Shipping Form for Purchases on page 125 of this publication. Please feel free to contact us to assist you in all of your requirements or to answer any of your related questions. Full completion of our Shipping Form is required prior to purchases being released by Heffel.
WRITTEN VALUATIONS AND APPRAISALS
Written valuations and appraisals for probate, insurance, family division and other purposes can be carried out in our offices or at your premises. Appraisal fees vary according to circumstances. If, within five years of the appraisal, valued or appraised artwork is consigned and sold through either Heffel Fine Art Auction House or Heffel Gallery Inc., the client will be refunded the appraisal fee, less incurred “out of pocket” expenses.
HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE
VANCOUVER • TORONTO • OTTAWA • MONTREAL
The Buyer and the Consignor are hereby advised to read fully the Terms and Conditions of Business and Catalogue Terms, which set out and establish the rights and obligations of the Auction House, the Buyer and the Consignor, and the terms by which the Auction House shall conduct the sale and handle other related matters. This information appears on pages 116 through 123 of this publication.
All Lots can be viewed on our Internet site at:
http://www.heffel.com
Please consult our online catalogue for information specifying which works will be present in each of our preview locations at:
http://www.heffel.com/auction
If you are unable to attend our auction, we produce a live webcast of our sale commencing at 3:50 PM EST. We do not offer real~time Internet bidding for our live auctions, but we do accept absentee and prearranged telephone bids. Information on absentee and telephone bidding appears on pages 5 and 126 of this publication.
We recommend that you test your streaming video setup prior to our sale at:
http://www.heffel.tv
Our Estimates are in Canadian funds. Exchange values are subject to change and are provided for guidance only. Buying 1.00 Canadian dollar will cost approximately 0.95 US dollar, 0.70 Euro, 0.59 British pound, 93 Japanese yen or 7.33 Hong Kong dollars as of our publication date.
SALE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2013, 7:00 PM, TORONTO
FINE CANADIAN ART CATALOGUE
101
101 SYBIL ANDREWS CPE 1898 ~ 1992
Bringing in the Boat linocut in 4 colours, signed, titled and editioned 54/60, 1933 13 1/8 x 10 1/4 in, 33.3 x 26 cm
PROVENANCE: Mary Ryan Gallery, New York, 1983 By descent to the present Private Collection, United Kingdom
LITERATURE: Peter White, Sybil Andrews, Glenbow Museum, 1982, reproduced pages 34 and 55 Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age, 1995, reproduced page 112, catalogue #SA 24 Gordon Samuel and Nicola Penny, The Cutting Edge of Modernity: Linocuts of the Grosvenor School, 2002, reproduced page 36 Clifford S. Ackley, editor, Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914 ~ 1939, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008, essay by Thomas E. Rassieur, page 115, reproduced page 119
EXHIBITED: Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Sybil Andrews, 1982, same image, catalogue #24 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints, 1914 ~ 1939, January 3 ~ June 1, 2008, traveling to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, same image, catalogue #61
Sybil Andrews shared a studio with Cyril Power in London from 1930 to 1938. In 1930, Power produced a linocut entitled The Eight, of a rowing team that was part of a group of racing sculls competing in trials for the annual Head of the River Race on the River Thames. Power observed these trials from Hammersmith Bridge near their studio. By 1930, this regatta
had grown so popular that 77 crews participated. This fine print from 1933 is Andrews’s depiction of a team returning their boat to its housing. Sport was an important subject for the Grosvenor School of printmakers, to which both artists belonged. The use of this subject reflected the social awareness of the time, as participation in and observation of sport grew in popularity. As Thomas Rassieur writes, “Utopian idealists saw the human body as a perfectible machine, and fashions favoured sleek physiques.” Bringing in the Boat incorporates this concept of the body as machine, as Andrews removes distinguishing features from the rowers, rendering their bodies as uniform, muscular and strong. Their hands are stylized, clamping on to the boat like tools. Rassieur comments, “The spirit of unified teamwork expressed in the print echoes the mass demonstrations of synchronized athletic prowess that we now associate with propaganda films of the interwar period.” In this strong image, Andrews depicts four of the eight rowers as if in black shadow ~ a choice that echoes the dark, angular profile of this specialized racing boat with its distinctive armatures. Repetition of form adds to the perception of movement, as though the men are moving the boat in lockstep. Vigorous and forceful as an image, Bringing in the Boat embodies the social ideal of collaboration and equality in sport, and promotes the attainment of fitness and health.
This fine impression is on thicker oriental laid paper.
ESTIMATE: $35,000 ~ 45,000
102
Rush Hour linocut in 3 colours, signed, titled and editioned 10/50, 1930 8 x 9 3/4 in, 20.3 x 24.8 cm
PROVENANCE: DeVooght Galleries Ltd., Vancouver, 1978 Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE: Peter White, Sybil Andrews, Glenbow Museum, 1982, reproduced page 52, catalogue #9 Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age, 1995, page 108, reproduced page 109, catalogue #SA 9 Clifford S. Ackley, editor, Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914 ~ 1939, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008, reproduced inside front and inside back cover and reproduced page 88
EXHIBITED: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914 ~ 1939, January 3 ~ June 1, 2008, traveling to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, same image, catalogue #38
Stephen Coppel writes: “Inspired by the Futurists’ challenge to depict the modern machine age, Andrews, like [Cyril] Power, presents the London Underground as the obvious symbol of modernity. The marching feet of commuters on the escalators are treated as a series of abstracted arcs and curves, suggestive of hurried movement.” The Futurists saw the world as something in constant flux, in ceaseless motion, a state created by the new machine age with its automobiles, trains and airplanes. To the Grosvenor School of printmakers, of which Sybil Andrews was a part, speed and movement as a part of modern urban life was a fascinating subject. Andrews’s compelling linocuts all encapsulate this motion to some degree, and in Rush Hour, it manifests through the commuters and their forward~moving sense of purpose. Strong, stylized shapes and the anonymity of the people put all the emphasis on the message of dynamic motion, resulting in an impactful image charged with energy.
This is a fine impression on thin cream oriental laid paper.
ESTIMATE: $25,000 ~ 35,000
103
Steeplechasing colour linocut, signed and editioned 9/50 and on verso signed on the Redfern Gallery label, 1930 7 1/2 x 10 1/2 in, 19 x 26.7 cm
PROVENANCE: Redfern Gallery, London John E. Culley Esq., 1930 Private Collection, Arizona
LITERATURE: Michael Parkin and Denise Hooker, Sybil Andrews: Paintings and Graphic Work, Michael Parkin Fine Art Ltd., 1980, reproduced, unpaginated Peter White, Sybil Andrews, Glenbow Museum, 1982, reproduced page 52 Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age, 1995, reproduced page 109, catalogue #SA 10 Clifford S. Ackley, editor, Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914 ~ 1939, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008, essay by Thomas E. Rassieur, page 115
EXHIBITED: Michael Parkin Fine Art Ltd., London, England, Sybil Andrews: Paintings and Graphic Work, October 22 ~ November 15, 1980, same image, catalogue #25 Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Sybil Andrews, 1982, same image, catalogue #10
Around 1930, Sybil Andrews, then a member of the modernist Grosvenor School of printmakers in England, produced several images of hunts on horseback and jumping competitions, such as Water Jump, In Full Cry and Steeplechasing. As Thomas Rassieur notes, “Movement ~ coordinated, directed, and energetic ~ made sport an ideal arena for exercising the modernist impulse of the Grosvenor School linocutters.” After the First World War and the influenza epidemic, public interest in physical fitness was on the rise, and there was admiration for the attainment of the ideal body through athleticism. In images such as Steeplechasing, uniformity of dress and the elimination of details of features placed all the emphasis on the pattern of movement. Sleek, streamlined and stylized, Steeplechasing fully evinces the dynamism of horses and riders hurtling through space.
This fine, richly coloured impression, on buff oriental laid tissue, is from the original edition of 50. A second edition of 60 for the USA was begun in 1932, and one of 60 for Australia was planned, but then canceled.
ESTIMATE: $7,000 ~ 9,000
104
Michaelmas colour linocut, signed, titled, editioned 35/60 and inscribed VI in the margin, 1935 12 1/4 x 9 in, 31.1 x 22.9 cm
PROVENANCE: DeVooght Galleries Ltd., Vancouver, 1979 Private Collection, Vancouver
LITERATURE: Peter White, Sybil Andrews, Glenbow Museum, 1982, reproduced pages 41 and 58, catalogue #33 Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age, 1995, reproduced page 115, catalogue #SA 33
The 1930s were a time of overwhelming social and economic change between the wars in both America and England ~ the Depression, mechanization, strikes and issues of unemployment were part of this shock wave. For the Grosvenor School printmakers such as Sybil Andrews, social awareness was on the rise, and workers were portrayed as vigorous and productive. In the mid~1930s, after previously emphasizing the integration of workers with machinery in her images, Andrews was producing images of farm labourers in the countryside, using their hands and simple tools. In her figures, Andrews deployed a streamlined stylization that eliminated facial features, symbolizing an egalitarian universality. The title Michaelmas refers to the ending and beginning of the husbandman’s year in medieval England, which fell on September 29, associated with the end of harvest, appropriate to this image of bringing in the hay. Bright colour, the strong forms of the horses and carts, and the emphasis on texture in the furrows of the field make this an exceptionally vibrant linocut.
This is a fine impression on buff oriental laid tissue.
ESTIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
105
Hauling linocut in 4 colours, signed, titled and editioned 28/60 and on verso inscribed 34, 1952 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 in, 26.7 x 31.7 cm
PROVENANCE: Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary Private Collection, Calgary
LITERATURE: Peter White, Sybil Andrews, Glenbow Museum, 1982, reproduced page 61 Stephen Coppel, Linocuts of the Machine Age, 1995, reproduced page 120, catalogue #SA 50
EXHIBITED: Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Sybil Andrews, 1982, same image, catalogue #47
During her formative years in England, Sybil Andrews was a part of the modernist Grosvenor School of printmakers. These artists were influenced by the radical movements of Cubism and Futurism, as well as by the social realities of life between the two world wars. Change was sweeping through society, and there arose a greater awareness of and respect for working people and industry. Hauling is an outstanding example of how this awareness manifested in Andrews’s work. In 1947 Andrews moved to Canada, settling in Campbell River on Vancouver Island, where she observed massive trucks such as this involved in the logging industry. By depicting the truck on an incline, Andrews increased the sense of the weight of the mighty logs and the power of the machine needed to transport them. The minimal background places all the focus on the truck. Andrews’s mastery of the linocut medium is apparent in her expert treatment of volume, the impression of movement and her fine attention to detail, particularly in the patterning of tire treads, the truck’s grill and the tree rings.
This is a fine impression with strong colours on thick oriental paper.
ESTIMATE: $9,000 ~ 12,000
106
106 JAMES EDWARD HERVEY (J.E.H.) MACDONALD ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA 1873 ~ 1932
Lake O’Hara oil on board, on verso titled, inscribed N.F.S., Lake O’Hara, J. Macd. and monogrammed with the artist’s initials, circa 1924 ~ 1930 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in, 21.6 x 26.7 cm
PROVENANCE: By descent to the present Private Collection, Montreal
LITERATURE: Lisa Christensen, The Lake O’Hara Art of J.E.H. MacDonald and Hiker’s Guide, 2003, page 55
During his stays at Lake O’Hara, J.E.H. MacDonald painted in all kinds of weather. In 1925 alone, he recorded rain, hail, frost and finally heavy
snows in the period from August 28 to September 9, but referred to this time as glorious. “Another grand John Muir Day,” he wrote, referring to the Scottish~American founder of the Sierra Club, “one when John would have ranged the heights with his soul in rapture.” He observes the colour of water under a sunless sky, noting the effect when the wind stopped and left the surface still. In this intimate view of Lake O’Hara, we find MacDonald has painted from beneath a massive pine tree, looking roughly southeast towards the spit of rocks that lies between the present~day Sargent’s Point area and the rest of the lake. The mountains themselves, so often the focus in his sketches, are hidden in an inky~blue veil. The touches of light blue and green that line the edges of the spit and dot the shoreline in the distance are probably snow. This Group period sketch is utterly peaceful and still, a moment full of vivid mountain colour and the ethereal beauty of weather.
ESTIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
107
107 ARTHUR LISMER AAM CGP CSGA CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1885 ~ 1969
Canadian Rockies oil on board, signed and on verso titled on the Roberts and Laing gallery labels, circa 1928 12 7/8 x 16 in, 32.7 x 40.6 cm
PROVENANCE: Laing Galleries, Toronto Roberts Gallery, Toronto The Art Emporium, Vancouver, 1976 Private Collection, Vancouver
EXHIBITED: Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, 1929
When Arthur Lismer first went to the Canadian Rockies to paint, he struggled with the grandeur of the soaring peaks. Condensing their vast
forms onto his small sketch panel was not possible, he felt, so he moved to a different format and a larger size. In this bold depiction of Mount Odaray, Lismer has mastered this challenge. He set his scene from a perch on the cliff face of the Opabin Plateau ~ the more easily reached Opabin Prospect is higher than the vantage point in this scene. Lismer settled himself like a hawk on one of the large cliff~face rocks to look out over the waters of Lake O’Hara, which he painted in their characteristic chalky blue~green. The flank of Deception Peak is a golden contrast to the cool greens of the forest as well as the brilliant whites of the Odaray Glacier and the clouds in the sky.
Lismer’s Rocky Mountain paintings are rare, as most major canvases from this part of his oeuvre are housed in public collections, and sketches of this calibre come to auction only occasionally.
ESTIMATE: $30,000 ~ 40,000
108
108 SIR FREDERICK GRANT BANTING 1891 ~ 1941
French River oil on canvas, on verso titled on the exhibition label, inscribed with KGH inventory #201 ~ 1 D300 and stamped Fred L. Curry Art Store, 760 Yonge St., circa 1930 21 1/4 x 26 in, 54 x 66 cm
PROVENANCE: Lady Henrietta Banting, Toronto Paul Ivanier, Montreal Kenneth G. Heffel Fine Art Inc., Vancouver, 1981 Private Collection, Vancouver, 1984
LITERATURE: A.Y. Jackson, A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson, 1958, page 75 D.B.G. Fair, Banting & Jackson: An Artistic Brotherhood, 1997, page 23
EXHIBITED: Hart House, University of Toronto, Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Sir Frederick Banting, February 13 ~ March 1, 1943, label on verso
A.Y. Jackson wrote in his autobiography, in reference to a 1927 sketching trip with Frederick Banting to Quebec, “This was Banting’s first experience of painting out of doors in winter time. It was March, but there was no sign of spring, and we were working in very exposed country. The winds swept in from the Gulf and there was no shelter from them. Banting persisted, though it was an ordeal for him. I found him one day crouched behind a rail fence, the snow drifting into his sketch box and his hands so cold he could hardly work. He turned to me and said, ‘And I thought this was a sissy game.’ ”
Banting is known internationally as the scientist who co~discoverered insulin, used to treat diabetes. It was, perhaps, the international attention that this achievement brought him (along with a shared Nobel Prize with his research partner Dr. Charles Best and later, a knighthood) that caused him to seek the solitude of landscape painting in his free time. He is known to have been a private, modest person, and would have enjoyed the company of the similarly inclined Jackson, who became a close friend,
and with whom he would travel far afield in Canada to sketch. The exact circumstances of their meeting are unclear, but Banting is thought to have met Jackson in the mid~1920s, possibly as the result of Banting having shown a number of his own works at an exhibition with the Hart House Sketch Club in January of 1925 in Toronto. At about the same time and through Jackson, Banting met Dr. James MacCallum and painter Lawren Harris, and was elected a member of the Arts and Letters Club.
Banting discovered that he and Jackson shared not only numerous personality traits, but also an interest in depicting the beauty of the Canadian land. Both were avid storytellers, tough and self~sufficient, and each respected deeply the achievements of the other; that both of them had served overseas during the First World War was a further bond. Banting also shared Jackson’s love of rural Quebec and the North, and they decided to undertake a sketching trip together in March of 1927. After some initiation via Jackson, Banting came to enjoy “roughing it”, braving painting in the winter, and he would subsequently accompany Jackson on numerous sketching trips, including the famous Arctic trip aboard the supply ship SS Beothic in the summer of 1927. They are known to have painted at the location of this fine scene, the French River area of Ontario (from Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay) in 1930 and 1934.
Although Banting had been painting before he met Jackson, the influence of Jackson’s brush~stroke and colour sense can be seen in Banting’s work. On their sketching trips, Jackson would provide Banting with a nightly critique, some of which is recorded in Banting’s diaries. He wrote, “To sketch one must be able to draw, get tone, get colour, get relations, get design, and get simplification. That is all there is to it.” He adopted Jackson’s colour notation methods, and his work developed rapidly as a result of the companionship and tutoring provided by his friend and mentor, who at the time was already one of the most famous artists in Canada.
French River is a fine canvas, balanced in colour and filled with harmonious movement. The silvery, rolling rocks are marked with highlights of accenting colour, and the snow settled into the hollows leads our eye upward though the trees and into the churning pattern of blues and greens topped by white peaks in the distant clouds.
ESTIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
109
109 ALEXANDER YOUNG (A.Y.) JACKSON ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA RSA 1882 ~ 1974
October, Georgian Bay oil on board, on verso signed, titled and dated October 1929 8 1/4 x 10 1/2 in, 21 x 26.7 cm
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Vancouver
Georgian Bay was a recurring destination and painting place for the peripatetic A.Y. Jackson. In 1910, his cousins’ island at Portage Point was his first exposure to this unique landscape, and during a 1913 sketching trip he met art patron Dr. James MacCallum, who gave him the use of his cottage at Go Home Bay. At a critical juncture in Jackson’s career, MacCallum offered him a year’s financial support if he would move into
the now famous Studio Building in Toronto. On his trips to Georgian Bay, Jackson hiked, canoed and camped through its striking landscape of wind~blasted pines, rocky islets and channels, always seeking new vistas. This is a fine Group of Seven period sketch, with fresh, bright light and a palette that contrasts warm beige and pink tones of the Canadian Shield rocks with brilliant blues of sky and water. Long, fluid brush~strokes emphasized by glimpses of bare panel show us Jackson’s assured and natural capturing of his subject. A small windblown pine, symbolic of the wildness of the Canadian hinterland, is silhouetted against the sky, an iconic motif.
ESTIMATE: $15,000 ~ 25,000
110
110 ALEXANDER YOUNG (A.Y.) JACKSON ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA RSA 1882 ~ 1974
North of Lake Superior oil on board, signed and on verso signed, titled on the gallery label and inscribed 25 Severn St. Toronto / L. Superior / Box Car, circa 1921 ~ 1922 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in, 21.6 x 26.7 cm
PROVENANCE: Loranger Gallery, Toronto By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
A.Y. Jackson’s first experience of Lake Superior was in fall of 1921 with Lawren Harris, after a trip to Algoma with fellow Group of Seven members. Harris responded to the open expanses across the lake, but for
Jackson, the rugged hills above the shore, exposed by forest fires, were of greater interest. Jackson returned with Harris to Lake Superior in 1922, 1923 and 1924, each time in autumn. Always attracted to the inherent rhythm in the landscape, Jackson found it here in the powerful and ancient rock formations of the Canadian Shield, which originated in the Precambrian era. Shades of blue, mauve and purple accent the earth tones in the rocks, and a blaze of autumn colour runs through the ground cover at their base and in their crevices. Expressing both the strength of the monumental rock formations and the beauty of autumn, North of Lake Superior is a classic Group period Jackson painting.
The address in the inscription on verso is that of the famous Studio Building, the base of Group members in Toronto.
ESTIMATE: $25,000 ~ 35,000
111
111 ALFRED JOSEPH (A.J.) CASSON CGP CSPWC G7 POSA PRCA 1898 ~ 1992
The Village of Madawaska oil on board, signed and on verso inscribed 791~70 24 x 28 in, 61 x 71.1 cm
PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
LITERATURE: Joan Murray, A.J. Casson, Art Gallery of Windsor, 1978, unpaginated
A.J. Casson stated, “If I have to define my own contribution to the Canadian art scene, what was particularly mine were really the rural villages and houses. In a way it is a record of a disappearing society and a
disappearing world…For me it was always an Ontario quest.” Casson was steeped in the atmosphere of Ontario villages and towns starting from his childhood in Guelph, and from his first sketching trips to Lake Rosseau and Lake Nipissing, until he fully claimed this subject while with the Group of Seven. Casson used various styles, not wishing to define or label his work ~ his style was in service of “crystallizing the mood” of his subjects. The Village of Madawaska is stunning because of its contrasts, starting with the geometric, flattened style of the village buildings sharply differentiated against the softly rendered rounded hills with their forested slopes. Dark storm clouds are pitched against blue sky breaking through behind the hills, and impending weather hovers over the serene village. Full of drama and atmosphere, this is a quintessential Casson image.
ESTIMATE: $50,000 ~ 70,000
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112 ALFRED JOSEPH (A.J.) CASSON CGP CSPWC G7 POSA PRCA 1898 ~ 1992
Woodland Pattern oil on board, signed and on verso signed and titled, circa 1945 12 x 15 in, 30.5 x 38.1 cm
PROVENANCE: By descent to the present Private Collection, USA
LITERATURE: Paul Duval, A.J. Casson, Roberts Gallery, 1975, page 109
Paul Duval notes that “In 1945, as the war drew to a close, Casson’s style took a new and radically different direction. Suddenly, all of the elements in his paintings became highly simplified into formal patterns. Shapes are
condensed into knife~edged rectangles and triangles…Design has become paramount.” A.J. Casson did not directly explain this sudden change, but suggested that the end of the war “brought an emotional release and longing for simplicity.” This style would come and go in his work in future decades. In Woodland Pattern, trees are stylized to the point of appearing as abstract sculptures, like emblems of living wood. Light and shadow are accentuated to create a strong sense of depth of space in the forest, and in the foreground, planes are fractured in a cubist manner. Casson selected a harmonious colour palette of greens and golds, washed by sun and contrasted by dark shadowing in the depths of the woods. Woodland Pattern is an outstanding example of Casson’s stylized landscapes, dramatic yet with a stillness of atmosphere that is perfectly crystallized.
ESTIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
113 CLARENCE ALPHONSE GAGNON CAC RCA 1881 ~ 1942
Village de Baie~Saint~Paul oil on panel, signed and on verso signed 4 7/8 x 7 in, 12.4 x 17.8 cm
PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Montreal
In its very short art history, Canada has laid claim to a mere handful of Impressionist~style painters. This select group was able to see Impressionism first~hand in Europe and then successfully translate the light~infused technique into paintings depicting a very different land. Among them was Clarence Gagnon, whose delicate work brought rural
Quebec to the attention of an ensuing generation of artists who would follow him to the shores of the St. Lawrence and other such places to paint out~of~doors. Taught by William Brymner and influenced by Horatio Walker, Gagnon would travel to Paris and paint with James Wilson Morrice, another Impressionist expatriate, in 1905. Despite Gagnon’s travels, his deep attachment to Quebec would remain, and he would use it as subject matter for paintings even when he was far away from the environs he was so fond of ~ Charlevoix, Baie~Saint~Paul, Saint~Urbain and Saint~Hilarion. His scenes are luminous and delicate, with harmonious colours that seem to cradle his villages in pastoral beauty. His sensitive brushwork adds further serenity and enchantment to his scenes.
ESTIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
Paysage oil on panel, signed and on verso signed 6 1/8 x 9 1/8 in, 15.6 x 23.2 cm
Clarence Gagnon’s pastorals are scenes of idyllic beauty, suffused with a sense of gentle tranquility and peace. In Paysage, Gagnon places a screen of inky trees in the immediate near ground, with their black boughs directly in our field of vision. Yet the work is masterfully handled to convey a sense of distance rather than one of closeness. The trees present
an invitation rather than a barrier, and while we feel that we are in a cool, shadowed region looking out onto a hillside lit by a magical half~light, we are taken immediately into the distance. Gagnon was a superb technician and a master of etching and printing. In the tradition of Impressionism, he studied the effects of light upon his subjects with intense scrutiny in order to capture the feeling of a delicate shadow, the rich blackness of a forest or the soft green of a verdant plain. Here, the pink~porcelain sky and pale blue hills meet seamlessly with the distant land, while an area of trees tipped with ochre~coloured light draws us into the very centre of the work.
ESTIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
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115 HENRIETTA MABEL MAY ARCA BCSA BHG CGP 1877 ~ 1971
Happy Valley, on the Road Near Ottawa oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled and dated 1935 on the Dominion Gallery label, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #G1044 and Happy Valley and stamped twice Dominion Gallery, Montreal 22 x 27 in, 55.9 x 68.6 cm
PROVENANCE: Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver
LITERATURE: Maria Tippett, By a Lady: Celebrating Three Centuries of Art by Canadian Women, 1992, page 54
Mabel May was a founding member of the Beaver Hall Group in 1920, and like others in the group, she was born into a privileged family ~ her father was a successful real estate developer who became the mayor of Verdun. Her family subsequently moved to Montreal, enabling her to study at the Art Association of Montreal, the source of much creative ferment in the city. Along with fellow Beaver Hall artist Emily Coonan, she traveled to France, England and Holland in 1912, viewing galleries as well as painting.
After her return to Montreal, in 1914 she set up a studio on St. Catherine Street West and spent summers painting at the family cottage in Hudson. Like Emily Carr, who returned from France around the same time, May’s horizons expanded in response to the innovations of the Post~Impressionists, and the impact of what she had seen resonated in her work. Maria Tippett wrote, “Working out of her St. Catherine Street studio in Montreal, Henrietta Mabel May demonstrated how far ahead she was of many of her Canadian contemporaries,” noting her use of Fauve colour and strong modelling in a 1917 painting entitled Indian Woman, Oka.
During World War I, May donated paintings to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts’ Patriotic Fund Exhibition, and she was commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund to paint women in munitions factories. She was one of only four women engaged by the fund to create an artistic record of Canada at war.
Even after the Beaver Hall Group formally dissolved in 1922, many of the women artists stayed in touch, painting and exhibiting together.
In an art world dominated by men, they flourished through their spirit, talent and dedication, and recognition of their importance has grown in contemporary times. Lively and energetic, May continued to paint with her friends, principally in the Eastern Townships and Baie~Saint~Paul in the Lower St. Lawrence. After 1920, the influence of the Group of Seven can be seen in her landscapes, with May’s strength as a painter showing in her use of thick, smooth brush~strokes that define a solidity of form.
The 1930s brought change through the financial deprivations of the Depression. The May family’s fortunes were affected, so May began teaching art classes ~ something she had previously done in the Beaver Hall studio with fellow artist Lilias Newton. She organized sketching classes in the Eastern Townships, then in 1936 took a permanent position teaching art history at Elmwood, a private girls’ school in Ottawa. She also taught art classes at the National Gallery of Canada ~ the contribution of the Beaver Hall women artists to art education was considerable. May continued to actively exhibit. In 1933 she became a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters, and while in Ottawa she showed with the group Le Caveau.
Happy Valley, on the Road Near Ottawa is an outstanding canvas, its subject encompassing all the finest attributes of her oeuvre. Painted from a lofty vantage point from the top of the road, it is both an expansive panorama and an intimate portrait of the village nestled in the valley. In the cluster of houses no people are visible, but the warmth of their presence radiates. May’s use of light and colour is assured ~ the houses are depicted with a luminous palette of pastels such as pale peach and mint green, and the surrounding fields glow green~gold in the sun. Both the foreground and the mountains in the background are shadowed, the contrast increasing the impression of warmth in the valley. The sense of people living in harmony with their stunning natural surroundings is palpable.
The National Gallery of Canada has four of May’s paintings, amongst them two canvases ~ a large 1921 oil entitled In the Laurentians and a 1925 oil entitled The Village ~ both similar compositions to this, of a town set in a valley amid rolling hills.
There will be an exhibition of Beaver Hall artists, including the work of May, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in the fall of 2015 entitled Le Groupe de Beaver Hall: Une modernité des années vingt / Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity.
ESTIMATE: $25,000 ~ 35,000
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116 KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS AAM ARCA BHG 1893 ~ 1986
Marché Saint~Roch, Quebec oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled on a label and dated circa 1925 on an exhibition label 18 1/8 x 24 1/8 in, 46 x 61.3 cm
LITERATURE: Evelyn Walters, The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters, 2005, page 79
EXHIBITED: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, Kathleen Morris Loan Exhibition, June 1976, catalogue #23 Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, Kathleen Morris, Retrospective Exhibition, September 2003, catalogue #26
In 1962, when the work of Kathleen Morris was shown at the Montreal Arts Club, reviewer Dorothy Pfeiffer commented, “Her solidly composed souvenirs of Old Montreal and its environs should be collectors’ treasures. Particularly remarkable is the woman painter’s sense of joie de vivre; her clever use of dabs and dashes of brilliant orange~red livens every canvas…Such painting brings peace to the soul. It is humane, it is technically authoritative, it is the personal expression of joy of life and of tangible emotion by a gifted, forthright, fearless artist.” Morris studied with William Brymner and took summer painting classes with Maurice Cullen, who shared her interest in the work of James Wilson Morrice. Morrice was also interested in Morris, and purchased a work of hers from Watson Galleries in Montreal. Morris lived in Ottawa for a time, not far from the Byward Market, where she frequently went to sketch, painting vivid scenes of the activities there such as the striking oil Byward Market, Ottawa, sold by Heffel in spring of 2013.
She also painted in such locations as Berthierville, the Laurentians and Arnprior, Ontario, where her family owned a cottage. In the winter she
took trips to Quebec City, where the old buildings, horses and carts, and streets filled with people engaged in the commerce of daily life appealed to her painter’s eye. She found the contrasts of various colours against the whites of snow visually dazzling, and thus she explored winter scenes such as Marché Saint~Roch, Quebec frequently. She painted out~of~doors, taking a sleigh or a carriage to an area where she could work for extended periods from the privacy and shelter it provided. Morris was born into a wealthy family and had certain advantages as a result, but she was also born with cerebral palsy and thus had challenges to overcome. Her observations of people are keen, as in this market scene in Quebec City, where she depicts the vendors in winter, their collars turned up and their hands in their pockets. They are using their sleighs as display tables to show off their wares; blankets can be seen in one, jars of foodstuffs, perhaps, in another. The boldly coloured sleighs are set at different angles, adding interest and a sense of rhythmic movement to the work. The horses have been removed from harness and stand in the background, where they wait for the market day to end, blanketed against the cold. There is a lively sense of patterning in this work, such as in the sleigh poles lying in the snow and ice of the foreground, forming lines that are repeated in the architecture of the city. The windows on the buildings echo the patterning and shapes of the sides of the sleighs, and the people, although varying in height, girth and posture, are painted as being similar to one another, without distinct features. There is a feeling of a stage set to Morris’s works, as if a charming moment in history is being artfully arranged for us so as to be captured at its very best advantage. Morris’s works display the positive elements of both sentimentality and romantic nostalgia, with an additional layer of working~class sincerity that offers enduring human appeal.
There will be an exhibition of Beaver Hall artists, including the work of Morris, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in the fall of 2015 entitled Le Groupe de Beaver Hall: Une modernité des années vingt / Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity.
ESTIMATE: $150,000 ~ 250,000
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Ferme en hiver oil on panel, signed and on verso signed 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in, 15.6 x 23.5 cm
Clarence Gagnon was very fond of the light and colour of Canadian winters, and winter subjects are a constant in his work. His mastery of white was key to these winter scenes, and he had a fastidious technical approach, both in the preparation of his wooden panels (which were
usually French poplar wood) and in the preparation of his palette of colours. His panels were painted with a layer of opaque lead white, which he ground himself using linseed oil and turpentine. This was scraped until smooth and allowed to dry for a year, resulting in a very hard surface. Unlike the Group of Seven, who used raw, sometimes rough wood panels, Gagnon’s surfaces were pristine, white and satiny smooth. In fact, he ground all of his colours, adding flake white to the selection, which was limited to nine or ten hues used in sparing simplicity, as we can see in this subtle work. In this depiction of the soft grey luminescence of snow at the approach of evening, Gagnon shows his fine command of winter light.
ESTIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
118
Paysage d’hiver oil on panel, signed and on verso signed 4 7/8 x 7 in, 12.4 x 17.8 cm
Clarence Gagnon was an avid skier, and he used this method of transportation to reach the remote villages of rural Quebec that he was so fond of painting when they were coated with a blanket of snow. Skiing
also allowed him access in winter to rivers to fish and the forest to hunt, as he was unable to support himself solely through the sale of his art at various times in his life. Gagnon was a master at creating a sense of harmony between the natural elements in his paintings ~ the trees, snow and sky ~ and those that were man~made, such as barns, fences, roads and churches. His impressionist techniques are in part responsible for this fluid harmony, in which light dapples over all evenly ~ but it is also Gagnon’s sensitivity to subject that is at play here. His affinity and affection for the simplest of places, such as this group of plain buildings at the edge of a forest, is at the heart of their sensitive, respectful depiction.
ESTIMATE: $12,000 ~ 16,000
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119 EDWIN HEADLEY HOLGATE AAM BHG CGP CSGA G7 RCA 1892 ~ 1977
Circus Tent, Concarneau oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled on the gallery and exhibition labels, 1921 21 3/8 x 25 3/4 in, 54.3 x 65.4 cm
PROVENANCE: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Montreal
LITERATURE: Dennis Reid, Edwin Holgate, National Gallery of Canada for the Corporation of the National Museums of Canada, 1976, reproduced page 34 Rosalind Pepall and Brian Foss, Edwin Holgate, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2005, reproduced page 106 and listed page 171
EXHIBITED: The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Edwin Holgate, May 26 ~ October 2, 2005, traveling to the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, 2005 ~ 2007, catalogue #21
Edwin Holgate spent the summer of 1921 at Concarneau in Brittany, sharing a studio with Robert Pilot. In fact, he was following the example of James Wilson Morrice, who spent many summers in Concarneau (1905, 1906, 1909 and 1918). Another of Holgate’s paintings from the same period, Fête des filets bleus, Concarneau, 1921, now at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, was exhibited under the title Nuit de la Fête at the Salon d’automne at the Grand Palais in Paris (November 1 to December 20, 1921).
Concarneau, like Pont~Aven in a preceding generation, was a tourist attraction for both painters and regular travelers. Situated in the Finistère district of Brittany in northwestern France, the town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was mainly devoted to shipbuilding. But at the time of Holgate’s sojourn in Concarneau, Ville Close was, as now, mainly a tourist area. A visiting circus added one more attraction to the site.
This painting, Circus Tent, Concarneau, shows the circus tent in the background and women displaying food or other items to attract the
public going in and out of the circus area. We see many women in their traditional costumes ~ note especially the headdresses of the women, which are distinctive to the area. Holgate had a good opportunity to make his own observations, since he was in Concarneau in August when the town held the annual Fête des filets bleus (Festival of the Blue Nets). The festival, named after the traditional blue nets of Concarneau’s fishing fleet, is a celebration of Breton and pan~Celtic culture. Such festivals can occur throughout Brittany, but the filets bleus is one of the oldest and largest, attracting in excess of a thousand participants in traditional dress, with many times that number of observers.
The contrast in this painting between the beige of the circus tent and the colourful activities of the Breton women, as well as the red roof of the small structure on the right, is perfectly mastered by Holgate. The strong composition, in which the black of the women’s dresses and the deep blue of their shadows dominate the foreground, attracts attention to the circus tent and the blue sky. A tree closes the composition on the left, while the middle ground is occupied by a grey cart on the left and the red structure on the right.
The following summer, Holgate was back in Montreal and rented one of the studios in Alfred Laliberté’s complex, 67 Sainte~Famille Street. Marc~Aurèle de Foy Suzor~Coté, Maurice Cullen and Robert Pilot also had studios in this building. From then on, Holgate produced his well~known paintings inspired by the Charlevoix region. But it is important to understand that it was in France that Holgate developed his own style both in landscape painting, as in our painting, and in figure painting (for instance Suzy, 1921, at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa). Contrary to the work of Paul~Émile Borduas, Alfred Pellan or Marian Scott, Holgate was not a painter of many styles. The moment he had found his own language, he kept it for the rest of his life. That is why Circus Tent, Concarneau is not only one of his early masterpieces, but a major example of his mature style.
We thank François~Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, recent recipient of the medal of the Académie des lettres du Québec for his lifetime achievement, for contributing the above essay.
There will be an exhibition of Beaver Hall artists, including the work of Holgate, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in the fall of 2015 entitled Le Groupe de Beaver Hall: Une modernité des années vingt / Beaver Hall Group: 1920s Modernity.
ESTIMATE: $250,000 ~ 350,000
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120 PAUL PEEL OSA RCA 1860 ~ 1892
Woman with a Parasol, Isaure Verdier oil on canvas, signed and dated 1886 10 x 13 in, 25.4 x 33 cm
PROVENANCE: Aline Verdier, Denmark, sister of Isaure Verdier, Paul Peel’s wife By descent through the family to the present Private Collection, Denmark
Canadian by birth and affiliation, Paul Peel spent most of his twelve~year professional career as part of the expatriate art community in France, where he maintained a Paris studio from 1881 until his premature death on October 3, 1892, at age 32. His decision to go abroad was inspired by American realist painter Thomas Eakins, with whom he studied in the late 1870s at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art in Philadelphia. Within six months of his academy graduation, he departed for Europe, settling in Paris in early 1881 after a winter in London, England.
Paris in the 1880s offered Peel unparalleled opportunities to broaden his artistic knowledge, to interact with leading contemporary artists and to earn his credentials at the Paris Salon. Peel slipped quickly into the artist’s life, residing in Paris during the fall and winter months and honing his craft under the tutelage of the French academic master of hyper~realism, Jean~Léon Gérôme, beginning in 1882. Summers were spent sketching in the countryside, where he found the subjects for canvases he later worked up in the studio. Guided by his Philadelphia friends, he discovered the art colony at Pont~Aven in Brittany, popular with American artists since the 1860s. He returned in 1882, 1884 and 1885, drawn by the picturesque Breton scenery, the Breton people, and the opportunities village life afforded for casual socialization with his fellow artists.
Peel’s veneration for European art history and academic traditions made him resistant to the experimental avant~garde art of his day. He aligned himself with the conservative type of modern art favoured at the Paris Salon: an “art of the actual” in which contemporary life is rendered in a polished, realistic style. Peel initially built his reputation on Salon~style paintings of Breton interior maternal subjects ~ La première notion, depicting a mother and child, was admitted to the 1883 Paris Salon.
While he may not have attached himself to the French avant~garde, Peel’s style did develop in a more painterly, colourful direction, influenced by his experiences painting outdoors directly from nature (en plein air). The aesthetic impact of sketching Pont~Aven village scenes under bright, sunny summer conditions is felt in such early works as the sun~drenched
view of Covent Garden Market in his hometown of London, Ontario, executed during a six~month trip home in 1883.
Peel returned to Paris in December 1883, accompanied by his sister Mildred, another aspiring artist. It was during the siblings’ summer sojourn in Pont~Aven in 1884 that he met his future wife, the Danish artist Isaure Verdier, and her family. The Peels and the Verdiers returned to Pont~Aven the next summer, where they formed sketching parties. In early fall, they moved on to the less populated art colony of Étaples, Normandy. During these months, Paul and Isaure became engaged. On January 16, 1886, they married in Willesden (a suburb of London, England), where Peel’s parents had married in 1849. The newlyweds then paid a visit to Isaure’s family in Copenhagen. Judging by the leafless trees and pale light, Peel painted this oil study of Isaure Peel on a bench in Kallet Park, Copenhagen, in February. Capturing a fleeting moment, it successfully integrates the figure in the landscape, visually reflecting the relationship of his wife with her Danish home. The freshness and intimacy of this portrayal is made more evident by contrast with a more formal portrait of Isaure, painted in 1885, in which she is posed before her easel, smiling directly back at the viewer (collection of the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery). In the command of his brush and efficient rendering of light and form, this study offers insight into Peel’s evolving style, looking ahead to a series of oil on panel plein air studies executed between 1889 and 1890 of Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, which compare favourably in tone and painterly handling to contemporary studies by the American artist John Singer Sargent.
Family was of central importance to Peel, and he developed a warm, close relationship with the Verdier family, who were cultured people with a fine appreciation of art. His father~in~law, André Verdier, was a glove manufacturer by trade who, with his wife Neilsigne (Signe), ran a luxury goods store along the Strøget in the heart of Copenhagen. In May 1886, aided by his new in~laws, Peel entered a work in the Royal Danish Academy of Arts exhibition. The Verdiers also proudly displayed Peel’s work in their shop window. Peel, in turn, painted family portraits such as Signe Verdier (1886, in a private collection). He also gave art lessons to his sisters~in~law, including Emma Karen, Vilhelmine and Aline Verdier. It was Aline who kept this evocative 1886 Kallet Park study, which passed down through her descendants to the present owner.
We thank Victoria Baker, author of the 1986 London Regional Art Gallery catalogue Paul Peel: A Retrospective, 1860 ~ 1892, for contributing the above essay.
ESTIMATE: $30,000 ~ 50,000
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121 MARC~AURÈLE FORTIN ARCA 1888 ~ 1970
Paysage à Sainte~Rose oil and casein on board, signed, circa 1958 23 5/8 x 23 1/8 in, 60 x 58.7 cm
Marc~Aurèle Fortin’s beloved home village of Sainte~Rose was the subject of many of his landscapes. In addition to the village, with its stately elms and quaint buildings, he also painted the harbour at Montreal and various places in and around that city, bringing attention through these paintings to the urban landscape. His work thus stands in contrast
to that of the Group of Seven, whose primary concerns were with unpopulated ~ or less populated ~ places. Fortin’s approach to colour in all of its varied, shimmering brilliance and his technique of using pure colours painted directly onto a surface covered with black or grey characterize his works. Here, we are looking out onto a hillside dotted with fields that are bleached into pastel hues and form a patchwork, rising to meet a sky of curdled clouds. The cool, shade~giving elm casts a deep, velvety shadow onto the house, wagon and road in the near ground, resulting in a scene of brilliantly orchestrated contrast.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work, #H~0883.
ESTIMATE: $40,000 ~ 60,000
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122 MARC~AURÈLE FORTIN ARCA 1888 ~ 1970
Hochelaga pastel on paper on card, signed, circa 1928 19 x 26 in, 48.3 x 66 cm
In pursuit of colour effects, Marc~Aurèle Fortin experimented with pigments ~ with grey and black as underpainting and with casein, a milk~based paint ~ mixing his own blends using powdered milk and watercolour. He was also drawn to the vivid colours of pastels, which allowed for layered and accented colour in a way that no other media permitted. Through a light touch, or under heavy pressure, the intensity
of colour a pastel stick can produce covers a broad range. Using a coloured paper as a support, this rare and early pastel drawing of the Hochelaga district of Montreal is a stunning example of Fortin’s work in this medium. Its relation to his later grey and black periods is clear, but it is the vivid contrasts, combined with the delightful composition and his assured command of pastel, which make this work so very appealing. Fortin’s depictions of Quebec convey immediately his deep affection for its towns and villages. Hochelaga is an idyll, nestled into the hillside and blanketed with a rich velvet light.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the artist’s work, #P~0040.
ESTIMATE: $9,000 ~ 12,000
123 ADRIEN HÉBERT BHG RCA 1890 ~ 1967
Quai du Canadian Pacific oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled 23 1/8 x 22 1/8 in, 58.7 x 56.2 cm
Adrien Hébert was the son of the well~known sculptor Louis~Philippe Hébert. He studied under William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal and in Paris, where his interest in ships first developed. He spent considerable time on the banks of the Seine River watching boat
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traffic while a truant from his classes with painter Fernand Cormon! Hébert returned to Montreal in 1914 and in 1924 began to paint the Port of Montreal. He loved the vitality and drama of the harbour ~ its liners, tugs, elevators, cranes and trains. This bold painting is an outstanding example of this subject, with its imposing sense of volume in the structures and dramatic perspectives of the dock buildings seen from below, with the ship looming in the background. Just as important is the human scale of the dock workers and their labours, exemplifying the social realism that became prominent in the 1930s. Hébert’s work was well recognized by museums ~ a painting exhibited at London’s Tate Gallery in 1938 was acquired by the National Gallery of Canada in 1939.
ESTIMATE: $15,000 ~ 20,000
124
124 ROBERT WAKEHAM PILOT CGP OSA PRCA 1898 ~ 1967
From Dufferin Terrace oil on board, on verso titled and titled Vu de la Terrace Dufferin on the gallery label 8 x 10 1/4 in, 20.3 x 26 cm
PROVENANCE: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Toronto
Dufferin Terrace is a boardwalk along the St. Lawrence River in Old Quebec, below the historic Château Frontenac and above the Petit~ Champlain. With its panoramic views across the water to Lévis and of ferries plying the river, and with its beautiful gazebo and decorative light fixtures, it was a fine site for public festivities in Robert Pilot’s time, and still is today. From Dufferin Terrace is serene. Pilot has captured both
the serenity of nature in the gentle evening grey and a feeling of urban harmony in the strolling people. There is no hustle or sense of urgency; instead, this work is a picture of quiet ease. Pilot was particularly interested in twilight, which he painted with a sense of sincerity that comes from critical observation. He understood the various qualities of light, and his dots of reflected light on the distant river play against the glow from the street lamp, which differs again in its quality from the lights in the windows of the ferry. Together with his careful selection of colours, Pilot gives us a poetic depiction of evening as it descends upon Dufferin Terrace.
ESTIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,000
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125 MAURICE GALBRAITH CULLEN AAM RCA 1866 ~ 1934
Dark Waters, Winter in the Laurentians oil on canvas, signed and on verso inscribed with the Cullen Inventory #1108 24 1/4 x 32 in, 61.6 x 81.3 cm
PROVENANCE: Private Collection Sold sale of Canadian Art, Joyner Auctioneers & Appraisers, May 23, 2000, lot 30 Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE: Robert J. Lamb, The Canadian Art Club, 1907 ~ 1915, Edmonton Art Gallery, 1988, page 36
EXHIBITED: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, Maurice Cullen Retrospective Exhibition, September 2000, catalogue #18
Maurice Cullen’s initial interest in art was in the medium of sculpture. He apprenticed under Louis~Philippe Hébert at Monument National in Montreal, but after visiting Paris in 1888 he was so enthralled by the work of the Impressionists that he turned instead to painting. The techniques he learned as a sculptor, however, would be used throughout his career, as he was very particular about his materials, making his own paints and carving and gilding his own frames. He was, from the first, interested in painting snow, and while in the beginning the Canadian art~buying public had little interest in paintings of their long winters, he persisted, developing a dexterous prowess with the colours useful in winter scenes, such as white, blue, black and grey. Cullen exhibited as a guest in the first showing of the Canadian Art Club, a secessionist group that had formed out of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1907. Its aim was to support and
exhibit art that depicted Canada, “something that shall be Canadian in spirit, something that shall be strong and vital and big, like our Northwest land.” His work hung on the walls of the York County Court House in Toronto, a place that had served previously as a studio for Frederick Challener and would later become home to the Arts and Letters Club. Over time, Montrealers came to appreciate his depictions of everyday life and the realities of winter, and by 1912 his work was the subject of positive reviews such as an article by Newton MacTavish in Canadian Magazine. He realized some sales, but without the patronage of Sir William Van Horne of the Canadian Pacific Railway, he would have struggled to get by. His scenes of winter subjects such as harvesting ice, horse~drawn sleighs and villages in winter at night were often painted on~the~spot, and they attest to his ability to work outside in challenging conditions. His plein air method was eagerly embraced by the next generation of artists that included A.Y. Jackson (who would call Cullen a hero) and would be exemplified by the work of the Group of Seven. Cullen’s desire for first~hand verity in his work was a credo of its methods and philosophically at the very core of the movement.
Dark Waters, Winter in the Laurentians is a fine example of Cullen’s mastery of the colours of winter. Here, the black waters of a river wind their way through an expanse of snow, which is a contrast of brilliant blue and sparkling white. Cullen restricted his palette to a few colours, and he used them masterfully in this work to give us shadowed snow, sunlit snow and a grey winter sky. His hours spent out~of~doors, his love of the Impressionist approach to laying down paint to convey the varying qualities of light and, above all, his appreciation of the beauty of the Canadian winter result in extraordinary works such as this. As one of Canada’s true Impressionist painters, Cullen fully realized the aspirations of that first Canadian Art Club exhibition in his paintings ~ to be wholly “Canadian in spirit…strong and vital and big, like our Northwest land.”
ESTIMATE: $150,000 ~ 250,000
126
126 CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF 1815 ~ 1872
Indians on a Hunting Expedition oil on canvas, signed, circa 1845 ~ 1847 15 1/4 x 22 3/4 in, 38.7 x 57.8 cm
PROVENANCE: James Wilson & Co., England Acquired from the above by C. Jackson Booth Esq. (1863 ~ 1947), Ottawa C. Rowley Booth (1915 ~ 1960), Ottawa By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario
LITERATURE: Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff, Pioneer Painter of North America, 1934, listed on page 141, dated circa 1845 ~ 1847
EXHIBITED: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Exhibition of Paintings by Cornelius Krieghoff, 1815 ~ 1872, February 15 ~ March 1934, traveling in 1934 to the Art Association of Montreal
Indians on a Hunting Expedition is a Cornelius Krieghoff painting of a particular pedigree. It was owned by James Wilson & Co., England, and then by the Booth family of Canadian lumber and railway fame. John Rudolphus Booth owned vast areas of timber rights in Ontario in the 1800s. He built the railways in regions where he had harvesting rights, including Georgian Bay and Algonquin Park, and was awarded the contract to supply lumber for the new Canadian Parliament Buildings in 1858. In addition to being owned by several generations of the Booth family, this work was listed in the catalogue raisonné of Krieghoff’s work compiled by Marius Barbeau in 1934. It was exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada and at the Art Association of Montreal in 1934. It is a beautiful winter scene, accented with colour and full of engaging detail.
In the vicinity of Krieghoff’s Montreal studio, he found endless subjects to fill his canvases. He focused a great deal of his attention on the First Nations people of Canada, in particular the Iroquois of Caughnawaga, who settled along the banks of the St. Lawrence River on the outskirts of
Montreal. In both summer and winter, the people of this village traveled into the city to sell baskets, hides, moccasins and gloves, trading their wares for rifles, cookware and European clothing, which they readily mixed in with their own traditional attire. In Indians on a Hunting Expedition, Krieghoff depicts two Caughnawaga Iroquois heading towards a beautifully rendered forest on a winter expedition, loaded down with their gear. Farther away on the frozen river, other hunters head in the same direction, while beyond the river Mount Royal is visible. Krieghoff was a master of winter scenes, and his subtle treatment of the various shades of white in the snow and the cloud~filled sky attest to this. As well, the figures are rendered in fine detail. We can see the stitching on their moccasins and the seams on their pants. One man pulls a fine bentwood toboggan, leaning forward and using a chest strap to help him move the heavy load. Blanket rolls and other supplies are strapped to the toboggan, including a large cast~iron pot. The second figure also leans forward under the weight of his load, this time carried in a head strap pack, a traditional method of hauling used in early Canada (which would later be patented as the Duluth Pack in the United States by a French Canadian). He toils under his heavy load, which includes a rifle, and everything about him, from his patched Hudson’s Bay blanket coat to his obvious strength, speaks of a life of hard work. In a charming Krieghoff moment of humour, he glances at us. In this moment of arresting engagement between him and us as passive observers, it is as if there is a quiet communication. It seems as if he wishes we would either give him some help, or mind our own business and let him be as he toils through the snow. Moments like this ~ when the figures engage with the viewer as if we are participating in the scene, are part of the delight of Krieghoff’s paintings, and one of the reasons for his enduring appeal. He peppered his paintings with little moments of humanity: jealousy, mirth, annoyance and humour. These moments, such as the meeting of eyes ~ and minds ~ with the hunter here, give Krieghoff’s figures their warm character. In this regard, and as a portraitist of early Canada, Krieghoff was absolutely without equal.
ESTIMATE: $90,000 ~ 120,000
127
127 CORNELIUS DAVID KRIEGHOFF 1815 ~ 1872
Huron Hunters at Big Rock oil on canvas on board, signed, circa 1860 11 7/8 x 20 in, 30.2 x 50.8 cm
PROVENANCE: Acquired by Theodore Doucet in Montreal, circa late 1800s By descent to the present Private Collection, USA
LITERATURE: Hughes de Jouvancourt, Cornelius Krieghoff, 1971, a similar oil entitled Indian Hunters Around a Fire, in the collection of The Public Archives of Canada, reproduced page 36 J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, 1999, page 137
Cornelius Krieghoff’s great skill at creating complex genre scenes is clearly seen in this superb canvas. The native hunters are depicted taking their ease around the fire, under a striking large boulder known as Big Rock. Art historian Russell Harper notes, “One of Krieghoff’s greatest series of paintings, large in format, brilliantly coloured, and highly romantic, pictures Indians beside a huge boulder popularly known as the ‘Big Rock.’ ” Such scenes included the realistic and meticulous depiction of native dress and activities, and here he paints the distinctive moccasins, clothing, pipes and rifles of the hunters. Although their poses are natural, and their activity part of their lifestyle, these complex tableau scenes were carefully and artfully composed in the studio.
Krieghoff created a natural stage for the group on the bank of the river backed by Big Rock ~ an enclosed and protected space. He also placed them in the greater landscape context by including a backdrop of an expansive view out to faraway misty mountains. In this scene is encoded a viewpoint of First Nations people as noble and free, unaffected by the artificialities of civilization, and living at one with the natural world. The bounty of nature is all around them, providing for their needs of food, shelter and clothing, easily taken by using their expert hunting skills. However, the challenges and discomfort of contending with the harsher side of nature were excluded from these romanticized scenes.
Krieghoff was quite familiar with First Nations people, and from 1853 to 1863, when he was residing in Quebec City, met the Hurons at Lorette.
Unlike the Mohawks of Caughnawaga, the men of Lorette continued their traditional hunting and trapping, and worked as guides for hunting and fishing parties. Krieghoff snowshoed with Huron guides to Lake St. Charles and was known to be a good hunter and marksman who could always pick up trails in the woods. One of his best friends was a Huron chief who spoke the traditional language of his people.
Not only are paintings such as this fascinating for their depiction of First Nations people in early Canada, they are also virtuoso landscape paintings. Huron Hunters at Big Rock is painted with precise draughtmanship ~ from the minutiae of leaves and blades of grass to the moss~capped boulder, we perceive Krieghoff’s keen observational eye. His colour palette is rich, with glowing autumn hues in the trees, a turquoise sky and blue highlights in the rock. The natural splendour of this wild Quebec landscape is alluring.
One can easily see how such images would have appealed to Krieghoff’s primary clients, the anglophone merchants and military men of Montreal and Quebec. While in Quebec City, Krieghoff mixed with well~off English residents; he fished, hunted and caroused with them. He was gregarious in nature and shrewdly practical. The cultivation of his clients allowed him to continue his life as an artist at a time when few others could. Military officers, some from well~known British families, acquired his work as reminders of their life in Canada.
This work is an outstanding example of Krieghoff’s tableau paintings of First Nations peoples. Among the impressive collection of Krieghoff works in the Royal Ontario Museum is a similar oil entitled Indian Scouts at Big Rock.
Huron Hunters at Big Rock possesses an excellent provenance that can be traced back generations to its original acquisition in Montreal by Theodore Doucet, a contemporary of Krieghoff. This rediscovered painting has been returned to Canada, and as it has remained in the same family, this is the first time it has been offered for sale since its original acquisition by Doucet.
ESTIMATE: $100,000 ~ 150,000
128
128 FREDERICK ALEXCEE 1853 ~ 1944
Pole Raising at Fort Simpson, BC oil on canvas, titled and inscribed nor Neash~na~waht indistinctly and Fort Simpson, BC, circa 1900 13 1/2 x 22 1/2 in, 34.3 x 57.1 cm
PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the Artist by Reverend Thomas Crosby, Fort Simpson, British Columbia By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver
LITERATURE: Bill McLennan and Karen Duffek, The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of Northwest Coast First Nations, 2007, reproduced figure 8.5, page 253
The carver and painter Frederick Alexcee, who was also known as Wiksamnen, was the son of a Tsimshian mother and Iroquois father. He lived most of his life in the village of Lax Kw’alaams (Fort Simpson or Port Simpson) and seems to have begun his artistic career by carving masks and other objects, examples of which are in the collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology and the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. There is contradictory evidence about his training, with Marius Barbeau reporting that he received extensive training (in “Frederick Alexie, A Primitive”, Canadian Review of Music and Art, 1945) and Viola Garfield (field notebooks from Port Simpson, manuscript, Suzzallo Library, University of Washington) suggesting that he was self~taught. Certainly his paintings, of which this is one of the most important examples, suggest that his approach was the somewhat naive one of the autodidact.
The village of Lax Kw’alaams had an important cultural life during Alexcee’s youth, but like many First Nations villages, by the end of the nineteenth century it was considerably changed through the influence of Christianity and government policy, both of which prohibited traditional ceremonies. His paintings document the physical and cultural landscape of his childhood.
The raising of a pole was a momentous occasion in the life of a First Nations village. It required the mobilization of large numbers of people both to raise the pole and to celebrate the event or person the pole honoured through ceremony and witness. The enormous narrative detail of this work might make us believe that Alexcee’s work documents a specific event, but more likely this image is an amalgamation of a series of events associated with a pole raising. It should be read, as Bill McLennan and Karen Duffek have suggested, as a “visual metaphor” revealing “elements of Tsimshian iconography and oral tradition” rather than documenting a single occasion.
There are examples of Alexcee’s painting in a variety of collections, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Wellcome Library, London, as well as in private collections. Pole Raising at Fort Simpson, BC is particularly interesting because of the wealth of information it conveys. We see the complex and difficult process of raising a monumental totem ~ people with pulling ropes on both the ground and the roof of the longhouse, the crossed props that support the weight of the pole as it is
raised, and the daring individuals who balance on the pole itself to secure lines. On the steps of the longhouse is a chief wearing a great Chilkat robe and two figures holding coppers. On the left side of the composition are figures with hides that were used to send the names of deceased individuals “into the universe”. On the right are figures carrying in gifts for those witnessing this event. The importance of the event is emphasized by the nine chiefs and elders we can see from behind at the lower edge of the composition, each of whom is scattered with sacred eagle down, as is the chief on the steps and one of the figures with the hides. There are over 60 figures depicted in this complex and rich image, suggesting the significance of the event, which engaged so much of the village’s energy.
Pole Raising at Fort Simpson, BC hints at the cultural richness of this Tsimshian community, something that was disappearing even at the time Alexcee painted this work. It is striking and telling that the vast majority of the First Nations work that Barbeau included in his landmark 1927 Exhibition of Canadian West Coast Art, Native and Modern at the National Gallery of Canada was historical and that the modern work was by non~First Nations artists such as Emily Carr, Langdon Kihn and A.Y. Jackson. The work of Alexcee and others was perceived as being part of the past. It would be decades before poles began to be raised in villages on the West Coast again, and rare images such as this one provided vital information on how these events should be conducted when there were few alive who remembered.
This rare and important work will be reproduced in the second edition of the college textbook Native North American Art by Janet Berlo and Ruth Phillips, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2014.
ESTIMATE: $30,000 ~ 50,000
Frederick Alexcee stands brush in hand with Pole Raising at Fort Simpson, BC
129
129 WALTER JOSEPH (W.J.) PHILLIPS ASA CPE CSPWC RCA 1884 ~ 1963
Karlukwees, BC colour woodcut, signed, titled and editioned 31/100, 1929 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 in, 26.7 x 31.7 cm
LITERATURE: Duncan Campbell Scott, Walter J. Phillips, 1947, reproduced page 27 Carlyle Allison, The Art of W.J. Phillips, 1970, the 1927 watercolour and graphite sketch entitled Karlukwees, Village Island and the woodcut reproduced, unpaginated Michael J. Gribbon, Walter J. Phillips, A Selection of His Works and Thoughts, National Gallery of Canada, 1978, reproduced front cover, the 1927 watercolour and graphite sketch entitled Karlukwees, BC reproduced page 64, the larger finished watercolour reproduced page 65 and a photograph of Walter J. Phillips holding an impression of the woodcut page 62 Roger Boulet, The Tranquility and the Turbulence, 1981, page 101, the related 1926 watercolour Myth of the Thunderbird (Karlukwees) reproduced page 101, the 1927 watercolour and graphite sketch entitled Karlukwees, Village Island and the woodcut reproduced pages 125 and 126 Roger Boulet, Walter J. Phillips: The Complete Graphic Works, 1981, reproduced page 319
EXHIBITED: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Walter J. Phillips, 1978, same image Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, To the Totem Forests: Emily Carr and Contemporaries Interpret Coastal Villages, August 5 ~ October 31, 1999, same image, catalogue #55.26.59
In 1927 Walter J. Phillips took a sketching trip to the West Coast, visiting his sister at Alert Bay and then traveling by boat to Tsatsisnukomi, Mamalilicoola and Karlukwees, a small settlement on Village Island at the entrance to Knight Inlet. He wrote, “We found another village ~ Karlukwees ~ more interesting than the others. The clean white beach had borrowed its shape from the new moon…Karlukwees provided
W.J. Phillips, in about 1942, holding up his famous colour woodcut Karlukwees, BC
many subjects for painting. In fact, never have I seen a more delectable sketching ground. I regretted leaving the coast, and I long to return.” This exquisite woodcut is considered to be the finest in Phillips’s woodcut oeuvre. Technically superb, with a composition perfectly in balance, the delicate impression of falling snow cloaking the village in stillness creates an unforgettable atmosphere of peace. The woodcut is also a poignant record of the village, as little remains of it today. In 1929 Karlukwees, BC was awarded a gold medal for best colour woodcut by the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston. The National Gallery of Canada has two impressions of Karlukwees, BC in its collection.
ESTIMATE: $20,000 ~ 30,000
130
130 EMILY CARR BCSFA RCA 1871 ~ 1945
The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase) oil on canvas, signed and on verso titled The Crazy Stair and inscribed V 40 / no. 5 Crate I, 54 circled and W. H. Clark, circa 1928 ~ 1930 43 3/8 x 26 in, 110.2 x 66 cm
PROVENANCE: W.H. and Irene Clark, Toronto (Emily Carr’s publisher) H.R. MacMillan, Vancouver A gift from H.R. MacMillan to The Vancouver Club
LITERATURE: Doris Shadbolt, Emily Carr, 1990, page 135, titled as The Crooked Staircase (Mimquimlees), reproduced page 134, and related works: the circa 1908 ~ 1909 watercolour entitled Communal House (Mimquimlees), in the collection of the BC Archives, PDP 920, reproduced page 132; the circa 1912 watercolour, Untitled (Welcome Figure, Mimquimlees), reproduced page 133; and the 1912 watercolour entitled Cedar House Staircase and Sunburst (Mimquimlees), in the collection of the BC Archives, PDP 2810, reproduced page 96 Doris Shadbolt, Seven Journeys: The Sketchbooks of Emily Carr, 2002, the related graphite drawings Figure at Mimquimlees, circa 1928, in the collection of the BC Archives, PDP 08894, reproduced page 47 and Stylized Drawing of a Totem Pole, 1929 ~ 1930, in the collection of the BC Archives, PDP 08766, reproduced page 37 Charles C. Hill, Joanne Lamoureux, Ian M. Thom et al., Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon, National Gallery of Canada, 2006, titled as The Crooked Staircase, reproduced page 179, image #132, and the related 1912 oil on paperboard entitled Indian Community House, in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (66.834) reproduced page 79, image #48, catalogue #145 and the circa 1912 oil on canvas Memalilaqua, Knight’s Inlet, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, reproduced page 149, image #111, catalogue #39 Gerta Moray, Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr, 2006, page 291, related works: the circa 1908 ~ 1909 watercolour entitled Communal House (Mimquimlees), in the collection of the BC Archives, PDP 920, reproduced page 216, catalogue #54; the circa 1912 watercolour, Untitled (Welcome Figure, Mimquimlees), reproduced page 129, catalogue #9.11; and the circa 1912 oil on canvas Memalilaqua, Knight’s Inlet, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, reproduced page 229, catalogue #62
Emily Carr, Figure at Mimquimlees, circa 1928 graphite on paper, 9 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
BC Archives PDP08894
EXHIBITED: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Emily Carr, June 29 ~ September 3, 1990, catalogue #95 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon, June 2 ~ September 4, 2006, traveling in 2006 ~ 2008 to the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, catalogue #97
Emily Carr’s engagement with First Nations people began in her childhood, but the first appearance of First Nations subjects in her work occurs in the late nineteenth century, when she visited the Nuu~chah~nulth community of Ucluelet. The watercolours and drawings produced during this visit are the beginning of a lifelong artistic engagement with First Nations culture. This interest was renewed and expanded when, in 1907, Carr and her sister Alice traveled to Alaska and visited a number of First Nations villages in both British Columbia and Alaska. She marveled at the house fronts and totems she saw in Alert Bay
and elsewhere, and determined to return in the following summers (1908 and likely 1909), producing a number of watercolours in Alert Bay in particular.
Carr went to France in the summer of 1910 and spent much of 1911 studying there, returning to British Columbia in November of that year. This period of study transformed her approach to her chosen subject ma

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