1859 - 1906
Canadian
Marine Sunset
oil on canvas
signed, dated 1896 and inscribed "Gotland" and on verso inscribed "No. 20"
11 x 14 1/4 in, 27.9 x 36.2 cm
Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000 CAD
Sold for: $94,400
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto
Mr. and Mrs. Jules Loeb, Toronto
Estate of Richard Hermon, Ottawa
Galerie d'Art Vincent, Ottawa
Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE
Joan Murray, Impressionism in Canada 1895 - 1935, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1973, listed and reproduced page 17
Robyn Jeffrey, Into the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce 1859 - 1906, Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2014, listed page 80 and reproduced page 208
A.K. Prakash, Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery, 2015, listed and reproduced page 293
EXHIBITED
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Impressionism in Canada 1895 - 1935, first traveling to the Vancouver Art Gallery, January 16 - February 24, 1974; Edmonton Art Gallery, March 8 – April 21, 1974; Saskatoon Art Gallery and Conservatory Corporation, May 4 – June 10, 1974; The Confederation Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, June 22 - September 1, 1974; The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, September 19 - November 3, 1974; and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, November 17 - January 5, 1975, catalogue #3
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Into the Light: The Paintings of William Blair Bruce (1859 - 1906), May 24 - October 5, 2014, traveling to Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, February 20 - April 5, 2015, catalogue #80
William Blair Bruce was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and received his early art education there. He was among the first Canadian artists to go to Paris for training, and once there, although he returned to Canada on several trips, he spent the rest of his life in France and Sweden. He achieved considerable success in Europe—his work was accepted to be shown at the prestigious Salon des Champs-Élysées and also at the Salon des Indépendants, and altogether he exhibited in a dozen Salon shows. In 1887 he spent time in Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, an experience that reinforced the influence of Impressionism in his work. Marine Sunset is a classic Impressionist work, painted on the spot. With its transcendent atmospheric effects and glowing soft pastels illuminated by deeper orange and coral tones, it is a sublime painting.
The inscription refers to the island of Gotland in Sweden. Bruce met the Swedish sculptor Carolina Benedicks in France in 1885, and they married and later established a residence and studio on the western side of Gotland.
Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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