Sold for: $34,250

PROVENANCE
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Vancouver
Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 10, 2000, lot 169
Canadian Fine Arts, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

The Ontario village was A.J. Casson’s central theme from his Group of Seven period and throughout his life. Rural architecture was of great interest to him, including churches, which were important centres of life in small towns and villages. Outstanding examples of Casson’s depiction of this subject are the 1940 canvas Country Crisis (sold by Heffel in fall 2016 for the artist's record), which prominently features a church, and the 1933 canvas Anglican Church at Magnetawan, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. In 1949 and 1950, one of Casson’s principal painting places was Barry’s Bay, a community in the township of Madawaska Valley, where he captured this peaceful church. Its white and grey walls and roof glow in the afternoon sun, which casts its light over the village and surrounding hills. The atmosphere is bucolic – a hush has fallen over the scene, in which no one walks the streets, the landscape is windless, and a light riffle of clouds indicates benign weather. The Village Church at Barry's Bay is a superb example of Casson’s sensitive interpretation of the mood of his subject, captured on the spot, immersed in the fresh atmosphere of the outdoors.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars