PROVENANCE
Walter D. Rutherford, Brantford, ON, circa 1936
Private collection, Ontario
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 25, 2010, lot 115
Private Collection, Toronto

In this crisp portrayal of winter, J.W. Beatty showcases his skill in expressing light's most nuanced qualities. His definition of space is also very accomplished - the screen of trees in the mid-ground, which extends to the top of the panel, serves to amplify a sense of distance. On what is the larger of Beatty’s two most typical board sizes, the effect is a striking sense of expansiveness.

Notable in the composition, too, are the shadows which undulate across the snow. In their patterning can be seen the influence of the European movement of Art Nouveau. Beatty and his contemporaries such as A.Y. Jackson and Tom Thomson pioneered the fusing of this influence with that of Impressionism in their expressions of the rugged vitality of Ontario’s North country.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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