Sold for: $40,250

PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Galerie d'art Vincent, Ottawa
By descent to the present Private Estate, Calgary

Robert Pilot was considered to be the last significant artist in a line of Canadian Impressionists, following after his stepfather Maurice Cullen and James Wilson Morrice. Traditional Quebec villages such as Baie-Saint-Paul were subjects steeped in history and full of meaning to Pilot. In this warm depiction, he captures the relaxed ambience of locals making their way along the slushy tracks in the winding road. This village, so often painted by renowned Quebec artists such as A.Y. Jackson and Albert H. Robinson back in the 1920s, is particularly charming, with its colourful houses and unique architectural details such as dormer windows and mansard roofs. Although this work was produced in 1957, Pilot recalls this earlier time with the inclusion of the traditional horse and sleigh. Pilot’s masterful skill with atmosphere is particularly exquisite in the soft, eroding snowbanks and mushy snow in the street, showing a shimmer of reflections in the meltwater. He sensitively captures that light so particular to winter in Quebec - even, slightly greyish, and full of refractions from the snow - that makes each element stand out clearly.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars