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LOT 001

BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 - 1998
Canadian

Thurlow Street, Sunday Morning
watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1946 and on verso signed, titled and dated
30 x 21 3/4 in, 76.2 x 55.2 cm

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

Sold for: $28,125

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Anthony M. Emery, Jack Shadbolt, National Gallery of Canada, 1969, reproduced page 32
Scott Watson, Shadbolt, 1990, page 36

EXHIBITED
Vancouver Art Gallery, Jack Shadbolt, October 15 - November 2, 1969, traveling in 1970 to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Art Gallery, Memorial University, St. John's; Edmonton Art Gallery; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon; Winnipeg Art Gallery; and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, catalogue #9


In 1942, during World War II, Jack Shadbolt enlisted in the army. He was transferred in 1945 to London, where he served as an administrative officer for the official Canadian War Art Program. While stationed in London, he encountered the devastation of the bombed-out city and found the experience deeply unsettling. In the fall of that year, he returned to Vancouver after stopping in Ottawa to marry Doris Meisel, who would become well known as a writer and curator. They established a studio in Vancouver’s West End, on Thurlow Street, and Jack resumed teaching at the Vancouver School of Art.

During late 1945 and throughout 1946, Shadbolt painted watercolours of Vancouver scenes, from industrial subjects to downtown street scenes, such as Granville Street with its neon lights and crowds, and works from this period of Shadbolt’s oeuvre are highly sought after by collectors. This watercolour, depicting the West End urban neighbourhood near Shadbolt’s studio, is a fascinating document of historical Vancouver. Typical of this residential area of the downtown in the 1940s, the street is lined by houses and wood construction low-rise apartments. Shadbolt commented, “I find my full satisfaction as an artist in the streets about me: in the strange facade of a modern city block built up of all the historic hangovers of old architectural styles.” He was captivated by telephone poles, neon signs, street lights and chimneys, which he called the “appendages of the modern street.” His interest in architecture was not so much for its own sake, but as “a complete reflection of society,” as he put it. Since the 1930s, Shadbolt’s work had shown the influence of Social Realism, impacted by artists such as the American painter Thomas Hart Benton, and this influence was still manifest in 1946.

Echoes of the war years can still be felt in a subtle way in the grey skies, dark colouration and the dramatic truncated old tree in the foreground. Shadbolt was adjusting to peacetime, and in this watercolour depicted the tranquil atmosphere of a Sunday morning in his neighbourhood, created by charming details such as the seabirds in the sky, people strolling the well-ordered streets and the period cars parked at the curb. Although change has swept through this West End neighbourhood since that time, a few of the low-rise apartments have survived, though modernization will soon claim them. The pressure on the neighbourhood started during the 1940s, when the architects and planners of the post-war modern movement wanted to tear down and replace the old structures. Although Shadbolt was a key modernist in the Vancouver art world, in watercolours such as Thurlow Street, Sunday Morning, we can feel his affection for the old buildings and streets of his urban community.


Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.