ALC CGP G7 OSA RCA
1873 - 1932
Canadian
Mattawa
oil on board
on verso titled variously, dated early spring 1913, inscribed variously and monogrammed twice with the artist's initials
8 x 10 in, 20.3 x 25.4 cm
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CAD
Sold for: $32,175
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
By descent to the present Private Collection, Montreal
LITERATURE
Paul Duval, The Tangled Garden: The Art of J.E.H. MacDonald, 1978, page 49
In 1913 J.E.H. MacDonald was painting full time, and able to take sketching trips into the north country. He discovered Mattawa, which captured his interest, and he would return again with Lawren Harris, writing to his wife, “Here we are out in the open under the soft grey mountain which is the prospect of Quebec. I wish I could send you down some of this fine north country air if nothing else. It certainly feels, especially in the morning, like that air that Henry Thoreau writes about, that morning air which he wanted to bottle and keep on draught against old age.” This painting is concerned largely with that fine air - the grey sky and open vista speak of the pull the wilderness would exert on MacDonald for all of his life. Early outdoor sketches such as Mattawa, with its quiet, gently sympathetic view of a simple cottage, were where MacDonald honed his plein air skills: refining his colours to the absolute essentials, focusing on mood and feeling, and capturing the presence and essence of the places he chose to depict.
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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