Walter Hawley Yarwood
Walter Hawley Yarwood
1917 - 1996
ARCA CGP OSA P11
A member of the pivotal Painters Eleven group, Walter Hawley Yarwood is known for both his paintings and sculptures. Born in Toronto in 1917, he attended the Western Technical School Art program as a teenager. Following high school he read voraciously and painted pictures, selling one or two a year while participating in exhibitions with the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) and Canadian Group of Painters (CGP). Upon realizing that he would not be able to support his wife and five children as a painter, he took a job in advertising.

Yarwood was considered by his peers to be the toughest, most skilled outdoorsman of Painters Eleven. He was known to be animated in private but had a calm public persona; when asked how he was, his reply, with a wide grin, was always just “peachy.” Due to his reserved nature he did not generate the same hype as others in the group such as William Ronald, Harold Town and Jack Bush, who were the first among the members of Painters Eleven to receive international attention. Rather, he garnered respect among critics for his strong form and richness as a colourist.

A largely self-taught artist, Yarwood’s progression contains numerous examples of experimentation. In the late 1940s he was largely painting landscapes, and in the 1950s he evolved to Abstract Expressionism, often with strong blocky shapes rather than spontaneous, loose splashes. During the 1950s, he participated in eight Painters Eleven exhibitions. By the 1960s however, he had abandoned painting entirely for sculpture, explaining, “When I think about my paintings I feel that they were paintings with sculptural ideas.” In 1967 Yarwood was commissioned to produce a massive four-ton bronze that was installed outside the Ontario Legislature in Toronto - titled Pines, the work was inspired by his canoeing and fishing trips in Northern Ontario. This was followed by numerous private and public commissions, including a monumental, nine-meter tall piece at the Winnipeg International Airport, as well as a freestanding sculpture at the University of Toronto St. George’s campus.

After retiring from teaching art at Humber College, Yarwood came full circle, moving with his wife to Port Rowan on the shore of Lake Erie, and taking up landscape painting once again.
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Island by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $40,950
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Island
20 x 30 in, 50.8 x 76.2 cm
1958
oil on canvas on board
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CDN
Sold for: $40,950 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2009 - 1st Session on Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Still Life by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $37,250
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Still Life
40 x 60 in, 101.6 x 152.4 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CDN
Sold for: $37,250 CDN (premium included)
Made in Ontario featuring Painters Eleven on Thursday, March 25, 2021
Island by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $28,125
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Island
20 x 30 in, 50.8 x 76.2 cm
1958
oil on canvas on board
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CDN
Sold for: $28,125 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, November 23, 2023
Spring Tree by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $23,600
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Spring Tree
33 x 42 in, 83.8 x 106.7 cm
circa 1956
oil on canvas
Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CDN
Sold for: $23,600 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 1st Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Sound, Frozen by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $18,880
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Sound, Frozen
28 x 36 in, 71.1 x 91.4 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $18,880 CDN (premium included)
March 2016 - 1st session on Thursday, March 31, 2016
A Very Small Totem by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $13,750
Walter Hawley Yarwood
A Very Small Totem
20 x 24 in, 50.8 x 61 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $13,750 CDN (premium included)
Abstraction on Thursday, May 27, 2021
Organization of Things by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $11,250
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Organization of Things
28 x 36 in, 71.1 x 91.4 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CDN
Sold for: $11,250 CDN (premium included)
Contemporary Curated on Thursday, January 28, 2021
Iron Bridge by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $10,625
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Iron Bridge
32 x 34 x 2 in, 81.3 x 86.4 x 5.1 cm
circa 1957
oil on canvas
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 CDN
Sold for: $10,625 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Art on Thursday, May 28, 2020
Wendigo by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $7,080
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Wendigo
24 x 36 in, 61 x 91.4 cm
oil on canvas on board
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $7,080 CDN (premium included)
March 2016 - 1st session on Thursday, March 31, 2016
Tower (Ancient Figure) by Walter Hawley Yarwood sold for $5,625
Walter Hawley Yarwood
Tower (Ancient Figure)
34 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 7 in, 87.6 x 14.6 x 17.8 cm
aluminum sculpture
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CDN
Sold for: $5,625 CDN (premium included)
Painters 11 | The 70th Anniversary on Thursday, March 28, 2024