ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA
1873 - 1932
Canadian
Humber River, Early Spring
oil on board, circa 1911
on verso inscribed “Humber Valley, J.E.H. Macdonald, about 1911” / “Humber River Early Spring 1911” / “Oil sketch for ‘By the River, Early Spring’ in Hunter, p. 47” /
“Other sketch is in A. G. of Hamilton" / “Canvas in Teachers’ College Hamilton” / “#7581-5 (41)” / “8849-5” / “SRLLL” / “475-1”
9 x 7 1/8 in, 22.9 x 18.1 cm
Estimate: $9,000 - $12,000 CAD
Sold for: $11,250
Preview at: Heffel Montreal
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ontario
Works produced by Group of Seven founding member J.E.H. MacDonald after his return from England in 1907 show the pronounced impact of the British and European paintings he had experienced there, particularly those of John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. These influences can be sensed here in his gestural, expressive application of paint, with its focus on light and atmosphere, showcasing MacDonald’s exploration of a new and modern view of landscape. It was his small, searching works like this one that Lawren Harris viewed in 1911 at Toronto’s famed Arts & Letters Club that led Harris to seek an introduction. This in turn led to their subsequent invitation by A.Y. Jackson to Toronto in 1913, setting in motion the events that would give rise to the Group of Seven and their era-defining artistic expressions. Although intimate and almost private in nature, these small oil sketches MacDonald created in this period are of foundational importance to the history of Canadian art.
The related canvas mentioned in the inscription on verso is now in the Archives of Ontario, accession #622106.
This work is accompanied by a copy of a certificate of authenticity signed by Walter Klinkoff, Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., and dated 1992.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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