Village on Lower St. Lawrence is a sketch made by Albert H. Robinson during his prime period, while on one of his frequent late-winter painting trips with A.Y. Jackson through the small towns of rural Quebec. Although this particular village has been left unnamed, we know that in 1922, the year this sketch was produced, Robinson stopped in Lévis, Lauzon, Bienville and Baie-Saint-Paul, all in the vicinity of Quebec City.

Robinson’s beloved Québécois structures, including a soaring church spire, are rendered with his characteristic flat, simplified planes. The village buildings, clustered in the upper half of the composition, are brightened with touches of his quintessential palette of pale coral and mint. The treatment of the sky and snow suggests an overcast winter light, illuminating this unassuming village with a quiet splendour that only Robinson could accomplish.

The inscription on verso indicates that Robinson must have taken space around this time in the Group of Seven’s Studio Building at 25 Severn Street in Toronto.

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