Sold for: $103,250

PROVENANCE
G.H. Duggan
Private Collection, Ontario
By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario

LITERATURE
A.Y. Jackson, A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson, 1958, page 57
Peter Mellen, The Group of Seven, 1970, page 13
Rosemary Shipton, The McMichael Canadian Collection, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1983, page 136

In 1903, Albert Robinson traveled to Paris to study at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts. Robinson expressed that he was influenced by the Impressionists, who were at the forefront of innovation in France with their unique approach to light and colour. After his return to his home in Hamilton in 1906, Robinson was approached by Mr. and Mrs. William Davis to come to Montreal. They offered to support him by paying the rent on a studio and introduced him to well-known artists and collectors. Robinson was soon at the heart of artistic life in Montreal, meeting prominent artists such as Maurice Cullen and Marc-Aurèle Suzor-Coté, and forming lifelong friendships with A.Y. Jackson, Edwin Holgate, Randolph Hewton, Clarence Gagnon and Robert Pilot.

In 1911, Robinson traveled to Europe with Jackson, and on his return to Montreal in 1912, he became one of the first artists to paint the villages of Quebec. Throughout the 1920s, Robinson painted the small towns on the north and south shores of the St. Lawrence River. He was often accompanied by other artists, such as Holgate, Hewton, Gagnon and particularly Jackson, who wrote about him in his autobiography, A Painter’s Country. Jackson related that while in Cacouna in the winter of 1921, he wrote to Robinson, urging him to join him at his hotel, and “to my joy, he arrived one evening. There was something about Robinson that melted all reserve as the frost disappears when the sun rises.” Jackson described how Robinson charmed the family who ran the hotel, and how the two artists sketched en plein air around the village, which he described as very picturesque, and engaged with the local population, who were curious about their activities. Robinson also painted at Baie-Saint-Paul, Bienville, La Malbaie, Les Éboulements, Sainte-Fidèle and Saint-Tite-des-Caps, to name a few.

Along with the Group of Seven, Robinson was one of the pioneers of the modern movement, and the Group invited him to participate in their first exhibition, in 1920, as well as three subsequent shows. As Peter Mellen opined, “Considering how intimate he was with the Group, it is surprising he never became a member.” Robinson was known for his sensitive approach to colour and his use of pastel tones. Rosemary Shipton commented, “It is as though his pink, grey and blue dipped brush removed the severity from the land and left behind only the silver sunlight and the sound of sleigh bells.” His compositions were lyrical and poetic, expressive of his subtle feeling for his Quebec village subjects. Group member Arthur Lismer wrote, “His art is the colourful expression of daily life, full of charm, devoid of sentimentality.”

In this superb canvas, a man with his walking stick trudges along a sinuous curve of the snowy path to the village. The motif of the telephone poles at the entrance to the village adds a strong vertical element, and, depicted with their wires omitted, they suggest the wayside crosses so often seen in the Quebec countryside, a reminder of the importance of religion in Quebec’s small towns. The cluster of houses brings the warmth of human presence, and their colouration is vivacious – pink, red, mauve and blue, reflecting the individuality of their residents. Patches of snow on the roofs break up their dark colouration and echo the rocks showing through the snow on the hill and in the lower right. The snow, which lights up this canvas, is accented with exquisite pastels and counterbalances the rich blue of the sky. Robinson’s enchanting winter scene radiates peace and contentment.

Robinson suffered from heart problems and arthritis later in his life, and by 1936 he had ceased to paint. His shortened career of only about 20 years makes his works, particularly canvases such as this, rare.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars