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PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
A Prominent Montreal Collection
Canadian Art, An Outstanding Collection, The Property of a Prominent Montreal Collector, Fraser Bros., Montreal, October 23, 1986, lot 62
Private Collection, Vancouver
The Art Emporium, Vancouver
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Vancouver, 2004

LITERATURE
Doris Mills, L.S. Harris Inventory, 1936, listed as Group 5, catalogue #21, Miscellaneous Sketches, location noted as the Studio Building

Lawren Harris’s Snow in the Woods, Algonquin Park I is a poetic, captivating painting, and a fine representation of the early enthusiasm that the artist and his contemporaries had for depicting the Canadian landscape on its own terms. As indicated by the title, it is one of a small number of sketches by the artist depicting the iconic Algonquin Park and presents the subject of snow-covered trees, an important early focus for Harris.

A critical catalyst for the Group of Seven was an exhibition of Scandinavian art that Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald visited in early 1913 in Buffalo, New York. The works they saw there, including those by Gustaf Fjaestad of Sweden and Harald Sohlberg of Norway, were critical in inspiring and enabling, in Harris’s words, the “possibility of an art expression which should embody the moods and character and spirit of the country” in Canada.[1] These “bold, vigorous and uncompromising”[2] paintings would leave an indelible imprint on Harris and his vision for Canadian art, resonating with him throughout his landscape period. Fjaestad’s work in particular had a strong early impact, his style echoed in Harris’s decorative, snow-covered forest scenes, most painted between 1914 and 1918. These works represent the first of Harris’s major periods that constitute his diverse career.

Unlike the later landscape paintings in Algoma, Lake Superior and beyond, Harris’s winter scenes are somewhat anomalous in his catalogue, as the numerous large-scale canvases do not have easily established connections to preceding oil on board sketches. Many of them were based on scenes from around Toronto, in places like High Park and the Rosedale Ravine, and very few preparatory works are known to exist. In light of this, Snow in the Woods, Algonquin Park I has the distinction of being one of the few works to combine Harris’s fascination with snowy woodland scenes with his characteristic plein air oil on board approach. Whether he used this sketch as the inspiration or reference for any of his larger, more decorative works is not known, but significance can be found in this rare and exciting combination.

In this tapestry of winter, Harris has created an inviting and delightful portrait of a classic Canadian scene, with richly painted, thick brush-strokes forming intersecting patterns out of the greens and umbers of the trees and the subtle mauves and ultramarines of snow in shadow. This work sees Harris addressing the snow-covered landscape with the vitality of his soon-to-follow Algoma sketches. Done in the field, it retains the ruggedness of the scene and captures the peace of gazing into the mystery of a quiet wood, blanketed under heavy snow. Unlike in many of the larger, more deliberately composed snow canvases, there is no clear path through these woods. Instead, this immediate scene is the destination itself, capturing the contentment and sense of intimate connection to the landscape that Harris hoped to foster in Canada after seeing such subjects so successfully portrayed in the works of Scandinavian artists.

Snow in the Woods, Algonquin Park I impressively brings together the inspiration and elegance that Harris found in the snow-laden boughs of the Canadian winter’s forests with the immediacy, energy and presence contained in his plein air works. Further, it is a wonderful example of an early period of excitement for Harris, who fondly wrote of this time and its significance, recalling in his own history of the Group of Seven, “We had commenced our great adventure. We lived in a continuous blaze of enthusiasm. We were at times very serious and concerned, at other time hilarious and carefree. Above all, we loved this country, and loved exploring and painting it.”[3]

We thank Alec Blair, Director/Lead Researcher, Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, for contributing the above essay.

1. Lawren Harris, The Story of the Group of Seven (Toronto: Rous & Mann Press, 1964), 14.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., 16.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars