LOT 218

CAC RCA
1865 - 1924
Canadian

Environs of Tangiers
oil on panel
on verso titled, dated circa 1913 – 1914 on the gallery label, inscribed "Miss McDugall" and variously and stamped Studio Morrice
5 1/2 x 7 in, 14 x 17.8 cm

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Scott & Sons, Montreal
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver


At the beginning of the 1900s, Tangiers, Morocco was becoming an increasingly popular destination for Europe’s painters, attracted to the city’s bright, sun-dappled colours and vibrant urbanity. James Wilson Morrice was drawn there twice, in the spring of 1912 and the following winter, and he spent much of his non-working time in the company of the French Impressionist Henri Matisse. Although the artists likely did not paint next to each other, Matisse’s influence on Morrice at this time is unmistakable, and can be felt in the strengthening of his tones and the vibrancy and looseness of his atmospheres.

Whereas many of the artists who came to Tangiers to paint took inspiration from the city’s medina neighbourhood—filled with dense alleyways and colourful markets—Morrice was more interested in the open spaces: the squares, gates and terraces within the city, and the beaches, harbours and rolling hills that surround it. Environs of Tangiers, a pochade sketch painted during Morrice’s second trip to the city, is an evocative example of the artist’s landscapes during this period. Here, a warmly arid ground rolls away under a clear swirl of sky, while a scrub of sun-flecked cloud dashes over a steely ridge of far mountains. A fence trots across the foreground, and white-walled, red-roofed buildings nestle across the field. Using soft, loose brush-strokes, Morrice captures the nuanced characteristics of light and atmosphere of a North African winter with economical clarity.

For the biography on Torben V. Kristiansen in PDF format, please click here.


Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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