PROVENANCE
Laing Galleries, Toronto
The Art Emporium, Vancouver
A.K. Prakash & Associates Inc., Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Exhibition of West Coast Art: Native and Modern, National Gallery of Canada, 1927, listed page 15, “Group of Sketches of Indian Villages on the Skeena River”
A. Y. Jackson, A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson, 1958, a related canvas titled Indian Home reproduced as a tipped-in plate facing page 64
Catharine M. Mastin et al., The Group of Seven in Western Canada, Glenbow Museum, 2002, titled as Port Essington, listed page 201

EXHIBITED
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Exhibition of West Coast Art: Native and Modern, December 2 – 31, 1927, traveling in 1928 to the Art Gallery of Toronto and Art Association of Montreal, catalogue #45
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, The Group of Seven in Western Canada, July 13 – October 14, 2002, traveling in 2002 – 2004 to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax; Winnipeg Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, titled as Port Essington, catalogue #118

The now deserted town of Port Essington was an important site of salmon canneries in the early years of the twentieth century, but the arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later the Canadian National Railway) in the Skeena River valley in 1914 meant that the town gradually declined in importance. When A.Y. Jackson visited the community in 1926, in the company of fellow artist Edwin Holgate and the anthropologist Marius Barbeau, the town was much reduced, as is evident in this image. The importance and beauty of the region was clear to Jackson, and he produced a number of drawings and sketches while in the area.

Jackson’s sketch Port Essington, Skeena, BC (related to the canvas Gitxsan Home, 1927, in the collection of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery) is a striking example of his ability to quickly capture the essence of his subject. Jackson views the scene from a distance, highlighting the deterioration of the buildings, the dominating mountain landscape, and the presence of the Indigenous figure in the middle ground. The two roughly delineated evergreen trees, on either side of the central wooden boardwalk, provide an introduction to the composition. They are important foreground elements, but Jackson has been careful to delineate them just enough to allow us to read them as trees and nothing more. Similarly, the bushes of the landscape are loosely depicted. The eye passes quickly over them and along the wooden boardwalk to concentrate on the central figure, dressed in red, who surveys the architecture of the decaying village.

We know from the highlights on the left side of the figure and the dead tree in the centre right that the sun illuminates the scene from the left. Jackson has, however, been willing to subvert the natural light flow for aesthetic purposes. Note the vivid blue seen through the window of the building on the left side. Imagine that patch of blue gone and how much less interesting this part of the composition would be. We realize that aesthetic concerns govern even this rough on-the-spot sketch.

Similarly, the variety of the structures is noteworthy—none share the same colour or form. This variety provides the composition with a compelling diversity. In contrast, the sky and mountains are relatively evenly painted, to provide a counterpoint to the architecture. The closer mountains at the right, with their consistent colouration, likewise provide a striking backdrop for the varied colours of the buildings. Although the image was clearly executed with speed, Jackson has given the scene a remarkable variety and life. The eye is amply rewarded as it roams the compositional space.

The image on the verso depicts an unidentified landscape. Although Jackson did not sign this scene, it is yet another example of his skill in developing three-dimensional space. In the extreme foreground he quickly painted a frieze of grass, which allows him to begin to define the visual space. This introductory vegetation bridges the space from outside the frame to the row of rocks in the foreground. Beyond these quickly painted but convincing rocks is a further expanse of water and beyond that a rocky shore and, slightly in-shore, an expanse of lively foliage. Jackson’s rapid execution is evident in the patches of panel that show through the paint. The sketch is, nevertheless, a convincing image and one that vividly contrasts with Port Essington, Skeena, BC. The two different images provide ample evidence of Jackson’s ability to see beauty and interest within the Canadian landscape and to depict what he saw convincingly.

This painting has been widely exhibited and was included in the historic Exhibition of West Coast Art: Native and Modern at the National Gallery of Canada in 1927.

We thank Ian M. Thom, Senior Curator—Historical at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 1988 to 2018, for contributing the above essay.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars