PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Mr. and Mrs. William P. Wilder, Toronto
Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, December 1, 2021, lot 137
Private Collection, Quebec City
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Robert W. Pilot Retrospective, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1968, the 1924 sketch for this canvas titled Cabbies, Porte St. Louis reproduced page 44

Robert Pilot’s paintings from the 1920s are among his best. Having returned to Montreal after a period studying at the Académie Julien in Paris, the artist brought with him a skill at depicting form and atmosphere that set him apart from Canada’s earlier generation of Impressionists. Quebec City, with its ancient architectures and romantic histories, was in particular an important subject, and Pilot would travel there from Montreal throughout the year on sketching trips. The resulting paintings frequently featured the cabstands that remained an essential part of life in the city. Pilot often placed the colourful teams of horse and sleigh in front of imposing battlements, before twilit ferry docks, or along moody, snow-lined city streets.

In this work, painted shortly after his return from Paris, the backdrop is the historic architecture of the Saint-Louis Gate at the entrance to Quebec City’s upper old town, part of the ramparts encircling the city that date back to the seventeenth century. The spire-topped cabstand—once a marker of urban modernity, now itself in danger of becoming old-fashioned—is surrounded by the waiting cabs. Horses under brightly coloured blankets stand patiently with their red wooden sleighs, their feet stamping in the dun-coloured snow. Above, the softly modulated clouds, delicately tinted with blue and cream, show a subtle midday glow. The scene is alive with a chill, nostalgic brightness. The Cab Stand, St. Louis Gate, Quebec is a masterful example of Canada’s last Impressionist from his finest period.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars