Sold for: $46,250

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Wayne Larsen, A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter, 2009, page 130

In 1926, A.Y. Jackson traveled to the Skeena River area in British Columbia, in the company of fellow Group of Seven artist Edwin Holgate and anthropologist Marius Barbeau. There was intense interest in this remote area at that time, as the arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Prince Rupert and the gold rush in the Yukon were bringing changes that threatened the local First Nations culture. Barbeau was already well acquainted with the region from previous trips, but it was new to Jackson, who, although widely traveled, had not been that far west. Jackson stated, “It is a great country for painting. The Indian villages are almost as fine as the Quebec villages and the backgrounds more exciting.” Jackson painted on the Upper Skeena, depicting small Gitxsan villages such as Gitwangak (Kitwanga), Gitsegukla and Kispiox as well as scenes along the broad Skeena River, such as this fine view, possibly at Port Essington, where sharp, pointed mountains rise. The fast-flowing river, the autumn colours on the far shore, the towering mountains and the dugout canoe make this an exhilarating Skeena composition.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars