Fall 2010 - 2nd Session Live auction

Lot # 101

Walter Joseph (W.J.) Phillips
ASA CPE CSPWC RCA 1884 - 1963 Canadian

Mamalilicoola, BC
colour woodcut 1928
signed in the margin and in the plate and titled
12 x 13 7/8 in  30.5 x 35.2cm

Provenance:
Private Collection, Texas

Literature:
Duncan Campbell Scott, Walter J. Phillips, 1947, reproduced page 19
Walter J. Phillips, Wet Paint, undated, unpublished manuscript, Glenbow Museum archives, M-969-4, described page 104
Michael J. Gribbon, Walter J. Phillips, A Selection of his Works and Thoughts, National Gallery of Canada, 1978, reproduced page 67
Roger Boulet, The Tranquility and the Turbulence, 1981, page 101, reproduced page 100
Roger Boulet, Walter J. Phillips: The Complete Graphic Works, 1981, reproduced page 293
Maria Tippett and Douglas Cole, Phillips in Print: The Selected Writings of Walter J. Phillips on Canadian Nature and Art, The Manitoba Record Society, 1982, reproduced, unpaginated

In 1927, Walter J. Phillips, one of Canada's finest artists in the mediums of watercolour and printmaking, took his first trip to the West Coast of British Columbia, traveling to Alert Bay and its surrounds. Exploring outlying villages such as Mamalilicoola by boat, he was fascinated by these exotic landscapes with their humid, constantly shifting atmospheres. He found Mamalilicoola beautiful with its stunning view over layers of islands to the snow-capped peaks on Vancouver Island. Having hiked through the "green twilight" to the village, he emerged at the dominant feature of this large woodcut, which he described as "a tall and magnificent totem pole. It stood in front of a community house, the pediment of whose façade was carved and painted with an allegorical figure of the sun, flanked by two fishes." Exploring the village's totems, house-posts and zunuks, he found material for several days of sketching. The West Coast made a deep impression, and Phillips stated, "I regretted leaving the coast, and I long to return." Beautiful and finely detailed, Mamalilicoola is considered to be one of Phillips's most outstanding woodcuts.

This woodcut was produced in an edition of 100.

Estimate: $12,000 ~ $16,000 CAD

Sold For: $32,175.00 CAD (including buyer's premium)