Sold for: $109,250

PROVENANCE
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Acquired from the above by Grete D'Hont, March 1945
Robertson Galleries, Ottawa
Private Collection, Ontario
Sold sale of Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 21, 2018, lot 135
Private Collection, Vancouver

Throughout her life, Emily Carr sometimes depicted people in her paintings - caricatures of individuals she observed on her trips, sensitive portraits of her native friends such as Sophie Frank, First Nations people in their villages and penetrating self-portraits. During the winter months of 1931 to 1932, Carr made a concerted effort in this subject, working with fellow artist Edythe Hembroff-Schleicher, “thinking it would get a little green out of my eye,” as she said. In her book Emily Carr: The Untold Story, Hembroff-Schleicher related that they worked on self-portraits, plus portraits of each other and of pupils sent over from the school that Carr’s sister Alice ran. In Carr’s journal Hundreds and Thousands, she mentioned one of Alice’s students named Billy.

This sensitive depiction was painted using Carr’s technique of oil thinned with turpentine on paper, which facilitated the sweeping brush-strokes she used to convey a sensation of energy moving around the child. Deeper tones of turquoise and darker blue where the oil is thicker lend a soothing aura to the boy. Billy is a rare portrait of this innocent and almost beatific young student.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars