Sold for: $82,600

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver
Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 6, 1997, lot 109
Peter and Joanne Brown Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Ian M. Thom, W.P. Weston, Heffel Gallery Limited, 1991, reproduced page 13
Letia Richardson, Silence and Solitude: The Art of W.P. Weston, Richmond Art Gallery, 1993, listed page 29

EXHIBITED
Vancouver Art Gallery, W.P. Weston, ARCA, November 12 - December 1, 1946, catalogue #64
Heffel Gallery Limited, Vancouver, W.P. Weston, 1991, catalogue #17
Richmond Art Gallery, Silence and Solitude: The Art of W.P. Weston, April 3 - May 17, 1993

W.P. Weston came to Vancouver from England at the age of 30. He became an influential art teacher who forged the art curriculum for British Columbia schools for over 20 years. This career left him free to paint without pressure, and while exploring the west coast, sometimes in his Star class sailboat, he felt the power and challenge of this primeval landscape. He broke the constraints of his previous English training in his desire to paint the grandeur of the coast, producing work of strength, clarity and precision that captured the essence of British Columbia. Weston greatly admired trees such as the central pine in this painting, its character formed by its struggle to survive—craggy branches twist and turn, shaped by powerful winds, and its roots search for footing in the rocky slopes. Through the screen of branches is a striking view of mountain ranges rising from the sound. Weston was one of the few artists to produce work of such power and originality at a time when the art scene in Vancouver was just beginning, and appreciation for his art continues to gather momentum to this day.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars