Sold for: $31,250

PROVENANCE
Collection of Mrs. H.B. Henwood, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
A Prominent Montreal Estate

LITERATURE
Marius Barbeau, Cornelius Krieghoff, Pioneer Painter of North America, 1934, listed page 82
J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, 1999, page 59

From 1853 to 1863, Cornelius Krieghoff was living in Quebec City, and these were his most productive years. Quebec City was a lively scene for the artist—Krieghoff had many friends and admirers, and his work sold easily. As Russell Harper stated, “His keen wit and buoyantly infectious spirit, his understanding of his audience’s tastes, and his versatility in themes combined to give his paintings of this period a popular appeal unrivalled by any other Canadian artist of the century.”

The surrounding countryside provided rich subject matter, and Krieghoff often engaged in hunting and fishing trips. Wild animals were sometimes the focal point of his landscapes, such as deer and moose and, in this finely detailed work, bears. The viewer can sense Krieghoff’s wit in this painting, in the bears’ investigation of the base of some trees, likely hoping to discover something to eat, as the fall colours presage the arrival of winter and hibernation. This work includes a spectacular lighting effect—the low sun, shining through the thick vegetation, is reflected back in the surface of a small pond. Bears in the Woods, Quebec has a romantic atmosphere, in which the bears gambol peacefully in a striking landscape glowing with fall hues under a sky delicately tinted with pastels.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars