Sold for: $22,500

PROVENANCE
Watson Art Galleries, Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto
Private Collection, Ottawa
Sold sale of Important Canadian Art, Sotheby's Canada in association with Ritchie's, May 27, 2003, lot 167
Property from an Important Private Collection to Benefit a Charitable Foundation

EXHIBITED
Watson Art Galleries, Montreal, Exhibition of Paintings by Robert Pilot, 1951

A prominent Impressionist, Robert Pilot was considered the last important artist painting in this style in Canada, following after his stepfather, Maurice Cullen, and James Wilson Morrice. Two years in Paris and Cullen’s tutelage steeped Pilot in the tenets of this movement, most importantly the capturing of light and atmosphere. Quebec City and its surrounds formed a significant theme for Pilot, and here he depicts Sillery, a once independent municipality that was amalgamated into Quebec City in 2002. Historically, it was a First Nations site where the Algonquin fished for eels in the St. Lawrence River. Pilot’s view across the river includes the striking spire of Église Saint-Michel de Sillery on the promontory. Always acutely sensitive to atmosphere, Pilot captures soft pastel tones in the sky reflected back in the still water and a rising plume of smoke from a distant boat. Adding to the visual interest of the work, he includes a scattering of people across the wharf, forming an intriguing record of everyday life on this active river.

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec has a similar view by Pilot in its collection – Gold Autumn, Sillery, with a circa date of before 1937.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars