Sold for: $79,250

PROVENANCE
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Sold sale of Important Canadian Art, Sotheby's Canada in association with Ritchie's, November 21, 2005, lot 169
Property from an Important Private Collection to Benefit a Charitable Foundation

LITERATURE
Paul Duval, A.J. Casson, His Life and Works: A Tribute, 1980, reproduced, unpaginated

After joining the Group of Seven in 1926, A.J. Casson soon defined his unique identity in the Group through his depictions of Ontario’s villages and countryside. Although fellow Group member A.Y. Jackson had tried to persuade him to paint in Quebec in the 1920s, Casson considered that province to be Jackson’s territory. In 1966 Jackson finally convinced Casson to accompany him on a sketching trip to the town of Grenville in Quebec, a half-French, half-English community, and he showed Casson choice painting places in the area. Casson returned to Grenville every year until 1972, producing at least 150 oil sketches there. In this fine, large studio-produced canvas, Casson exhibits the same ability to crystallize the mood of a singular moment and place that he was renowned for in his Ontario scenes. The farm buildings with their weathered surfaces harmonize with the landscape, and though no people are visible, their suggested presence warms the scene. The flame-like shapes of trees glow with autumn colours, and soft golds and oranges drift through the hills. The clouds suggest impending weather, adding a note of brooding atmosphere to this peaceful scene.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars