Sold for: $40,250

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Minnesota
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Quebec

LITERATURE
Hélène Sicotte and Michèle Grandbois, Clarence Gagnon, 1881 - 1942: Dreaming the Landscape, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2006, the canvas titled The Farm on the Hill, circa 1908 - 1913, reproduced page 116 and listed page 349

EXHIBITED
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, Clarence Gagnon, 1881 - 1942: Dreaming the Landscape, June 7 - September 10, 2006, traveling in 2006 - 2007 to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, the canvas titled The Farm on the Hill, circa 1908 - 1913, catalogue #66

Clarence Gagnon visited Baie-Saint-Paul in 1908, and after his sojourn in France from 1910 to 1912, he immediately returned to the town in July 1912, working there until late fall. He continued to go back and forth between Baie-Saint-Paul and Paris until his final return to his beloved Baie-Saint-Paul in 1936. Considering this timeline and the existence of a related canvas entitled The Farm on the Hill, dated circa 1908 to 1913, a more accurate circa date for this plein air sketch would be circa 1908. The canvas, which was in the 2006 Gagnon exhibition at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, is a view of the same scene from a slightly different angle. The humble farm possesses a glorious view of the St. Lawrence River from its lofty vantage point, and the scene shows how Gagnon responded to the unique topography of the area, in which three centuries of human occupation existed side-by-side with wilderness. Chromatically Gagnon uses his typical warm-cool contrasts, with the lemon yellow of the farmhouse drawing the eye, its warmth contrasting with the delicate pastel tints of the glowing snow and the deeper blues on the horizon.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars