CGP CSGA CSPWC
1882 - 1953
Canadian
Reading by the Table
watercolour on paper
on verso titled, dated February ? 1940 and inscribed by Douglas Duncan "W-180" and "178"
15 1/4 x 20 1/4 in, 38.7 x 51.4 cm
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD
Sold for: $28,125
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Douglas Duncan Picture Loan Society, Toronto
Acquired from the Art Rental Service, Art Gallery of Toronto by Morris Altman, Toronto, 1966
Canadian Art, Joyner / Waddington's, November 23, 2004, lot 24
Private Collection, Montreal
Canadian Fine Art, Joyner Waddington's, November 28, 2006, lot 35
Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 2: 1929 - 1953, 1998, page 720, reproduced page 720, catalogue #401.74
David Milne moved to Toronto in the summer of 1939 to live with Kathleen Pavey, and this sojourn, although brief, was very productive. (The couple moved to Uxbridge, Ontario, in fall of 1940.) The happy change in Milne’s private life infused his paintings with joy and vitality. Milne’s professional life also took a turn for the better, as Douglas Duncan began to mount regular exhibitions of his work at his Picture Loan Society gallery and promoted his work vigorously.
This watercolour was painted in one of the various apartments the Milnes stayed in during this time, and shows Kathleen reading in their dining room. Milne produced five versions of this subject, but praised this composition as being the most successful. The painting is full of charming details - one of Milne’s watercolours, Honeysuckle, is on the back wall, and the table shows the remains of a lunch. Milne used coloured outlines to define forms, and he struck a fine balance between painted washes and unpainted paper to define his image. He commented in his diary about his composition: “It is an example of unity being sought by a deliberate breaking of the parts so they do not separate but unite.” Reading by the Table, with its natural, fluid effects, captures an atmosphere of intimacy and is a window into Milne’s life.
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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