Sold for: $40,950

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Montreal

Clarence Gagnon was very fond of the light and colour of Canadian winters, and winter subjects are a constant in his work. His mastery of white was key to these winter scenes, and he had a fastidious technical approach, both in the preparation of his wooden panels (which were usually French poplar wood) and in the preparation of his palette of colours. His panels were painted with a layer of opaque lead white, which he ground himself using linseed oil and turpentine. This was scraped until smooth and allowed to dry for a year, resulting in a very hard surface. Unlike the Group of Seven, who used raw, sometimes rough wood panels, Gagnon’s surfaces were pristine, white and satiny smooth. In fact, he ground all of his colours, adding flake white to the selection, which was limited to nine or ten hues used in sparing simplicity, as we can see in this subtle work. In this depiction of the soft grey luminescence of snow at the approach of evening, Gagnon shows his fine command of winter light.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars