Inventory #
PCRE-08538-0001
ARCA CSGA OSA
1879 - 1958
Canadian
Evening at Matawa (Ottawa River)
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1926 and on verso signed and titled
40 x 48 in, 101.6 x 121.9 cm
PROVENANCE
The Estate of T.W. Mitchell
Canadian Heritage Art, Ontario
Private Collection, Vancouver
Thomas Wilberforce Mitchell studied under William Cruickshank, George Reid and Frederick S. Challener at the Central Ontario School of Art in Toronto. In 1912, he went on to continue his studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where he studied under J.A. Weir, Emil Carlson, Philip Hale and Daniel Garber, all American Impressionists. While there, he also saw work by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Charles-Francois Daubigny, both precursors of Impressionism, and other French painters. These influences made such an impact on Mitchell that he changed his style, and his work became more colourful.
Mitchell worked as a commercial artist for Brigdens Limited, a commercial art firm in Toronto and as a book and magazine illustrator for publications such as the Toronto Star and Macleans magazine. He was President of the Society of Graphic Artists, and exhibited with the Art Association of Montreal and the Royal Canadian Academy. The National Gallery of Canada has a number of his landscapes in their collection.
This large canvas is an extraordinary example of Mitchell’s work. The location is Mattawa, in Ontario’s Nipissing District, an area that includes the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers. In this painting, a man is departing the scene of his labours - sawing logs and chopping firewood – possibly in the process of constructing a cabin in this striking setting. The painting glows with a rich, warm light, and its contrasts of light and shadow are tremendously atmospheric. Mitchell captures an interesting variety of patterns of reflections in the water, with effects ranging from a still and perfect mirroring to rippling, broken surfaces around the edges of landforms. In Evening at Matawa (Ottawa River), Mitchell’s brushwork of patches of radiant colours forms an opulent landscape tapestry.
Price: $22,500 CAD
Available for viewing at: Heffel Calgary - 220 Manning Road NE, Unit 1080
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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