CAC RCA
1865 - 1924
Canadian
Fall Leaves, Near Trefriw, North Wales
oil on canvas on board, circa 1892
signed and on verso inscribed "21" and variously and stamped with the Morrice studio stamp, the Dominion Gallery stamp, and the Latner collection stamp
8 x 10 1/2 in, 20.3 x 26.7 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD
Sold for: $31,250
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto, before 1965
Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Latner, Toronto
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Collection of Melvyn and Mitzi Dobrin, November 1968
Canadian Art, An Outstanding Collection: The Property of a Prominent Montreal Collector, Fraser Bros, Montreal, October 23, 1986, lot 40
Joyner Fine Art, May 16, 1989, lot 94
Private Collection, Ottawa
Important Canadian Art, Sotheby's Canada in association with Ritchie's, November 22, 2004, lot 39
Private Collection, Toronto
EXHIBITED
North York Public Library, The Latner Collection, July - September, 1965, titled as Orchard, Brittany
Previously titled Orchard, Brittany, research suggests this work is from J.W. Morrice’s time in Northern Wales in late 1892. Popular with British artists who may have recommended it, Morrice was in the region visiting his parents holidaying in Lancashire near the Welsh border in the summer of 1892. Based on existing information, the artist seems to have spent his time sketching along the River Conwy in the medieval-era villages of Trefriw and Llanrwst.
Of the approximately one dozen works of the area he is known to have produced, such as Little Church in Wales, sold by Heffel in November of 2009, many display a very comparable earth-toned palette to the one shown here, and similar stylistic choices in the depiction of the near bare trees, overcast sky, and local architecture. Not only atmospheric and intimate, this work now also stands as a rare example from an acute period of Morrice’s work.
The provenance of this work is also very notable. At different points in its history, it hung in the eminent collections of A.J. Lantner and Melvyn and Mitzi Dobrin.
We thank Lucie Dorais for her assistance with the cataloguing of this painting. This work will be included in Dorais’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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