Sold for: $37,250

PROVENANCE
Mr. and Mrs. David Taylor, Montreal
By descent to a Private Estate, British Columbia
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 26, 2009, lot 204
Private Collection, Toronto
Canadian, Impressionist and Modern Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 20, 2019, lot 113
Private Collection, Montreal

EXHIBITED
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, Kathleen Morris, Loan Exhibition, June 1976, catalogue #56

Kathleen Morris was a member of the Beaver Hall Group in Montreal, formally in existence from 1920 to 1922. The women members of the group stayed in contact and continued to exhibit together after 1922. Morris’s streetscapes were painted directly from life in all seasons, in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and outlying towns such as picturesque Berthierville, where she and her mother usually spent six weeks each year. Morris was particularly known for her depiction of colourful market scenes and horse-drawn taxi stands, and this is a fine example of this sought-after subject matter. In winter, Morris would be transported by sleigh to her chosen destination, where she painted bundled in furs. Her brushwork here is bold and assured, and her colour palette strong, contrasting the bright colours of the horses’ blankets and pastel house facades with the cool, even light of an overcast winter day. Examples of this subject are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

This oil sketch was later used by Morris to produce the important large-format canvas of this scene, formerly in the private collection of Kenneth G. Heffel.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars