Sold for: $22,500

PROVENANCE
Sold sale of Important Canadian Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours, Books and Prints, Sotheby's Canada, May 14, 1979, lot 162
Manuge Galleries Ltd., Halifax
Sold sale of Canadian Art, Joyner / Waddington’s, December 2, 2003, lot 99
Loch Gallery, Winnipeg
Private Collection, Manitoba

LITERATURE
Dennis Reid, Canadian Jungle: The Later Work of Arthur Lismer, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985, page 43

In the summer of 1945, Group of Seven painter Arthur Lismer undertook a sketching trip to Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island. He was attracted to the vibrant fishing culture there, and he produced maritime subjects including boats and fishermen’s paraphernalia. Their killicks, ropes, chains, buoys and traps were fascinating to Lismer, and he often depicted these objects casually strewn on docks, entwined together in a dynamic tangle. Killicks are heavy stones used by small craft in lieu of a metal anchor, and their use has a long history – both in the Maritimes and in Britain. In Killick and Anchors, Cape Breton Island, Lismer handles his dock subject with exuberance – he plays with the shadows cast by the objects and includes a view through to the ocean vista beyond, letting in a sense of the freedom of the sea. Art historian Dennis Reid commented, “The work done on Cape Breton Island – strong, assured, often innovative – dominates the period following the middle of the decade.” This richly atmospheric scene, executed with bold brushwork, is a fine example from this part of Lismer's oeuvre.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars