Soon after joining the Group of Seven in 1926, A.J. Casson established his unique identity within the Group through his colourful and measured depictions of Ontario’s villages and rural countryside. Casson always considered Quebec to be A.Y. Jackson’s territory and initially refrained from painting there. Not until 1966 did Casson finally agree to join Jackson on a sketching trip to Grenville, Quebec. The experience resonated strongly with the artist—he developed a deep appreciation for the region and would return to Grenville and its surroundings annually until 1972, creating over 150 oil sketches of the area. Art historian Paul Duval indicates that this was the greatest number of sketches Casson did of a single, specific location.

Grenville, Que. Is a quintessential Casson image—a warm, harmonious scene, laced with an underlying sense of brooding. The light beige structures at the centre of the sketch stand out against the richly coloured hills, where soft greens, warm yellows and rosy peach-pinks give way to deeper purples in the distant ridges. Above, heavy clouds loom, their weight adding quiet tension. Casson’s nuanced palette and precise rendering perfectly capture a still moment beneath shifting skies, imbued with both serenity and suspense.

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