PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist by Gordon Adamson, Toronto
By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario

A striking pair, both this work and lot 104 from the descendants of architect Gordon Adamson showcase A.J. Casson’s mastery at capturing the varied resonances of the natural world. A darkly elegant quality infuses both works, depicting scenes that may very well have occurred within moments of each other. Casson portrays the changing face of the environment, describing the glassy stillness of the lake in one work, and wind-jostled stirrings in the other.

Here, lightning streaks out of an indelibly authentic rain-laden darkness, and in the other, cloud-forms either part post-storm or ominously gather, depending on one’s interpretation of the image. With a modernist architecture, Casson structures the cloud-faces, eliciting alternating effects of both drama and calm. The atmosphere, too, is palpable in each, with the wind coursing from left to right across the composition of Storm Clouds Over Lake and coming to a meditative stillness in Far Shore Hills. When viewed together, these paintings serve as a masterclass in Casson’s marked ability to, within a single subject and approach, produce remarkably distinct experiences of mood, tone and temperament.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars