In the summer of 1927, Sir Frederick Banting and A.Y. Jackson embarked on a remarkable painting expedition aboard the SS Beothic, a government supply ship traveling north from Sydney, Cape Breton, along the coast of Labrador and Baffin Island. The journey provided rare access to remote northern communities and rugged arctic landscapes—a setting that both artists found profoundly inspiring.

Although stormy conditions during their crossing of the Davis Strait limited their ability to work, calmer weather on the return leg allowed for productive painting sessions near Pond Inlet and Bylot Island. Situated just across Eclipse Sound from Pond Inlet, Bylot Island’s dramatic terrain captivated the artists. Its sweeping glaciers, jagged peaks and ice-choked waters became a recurring subject in their arctic works.

Glacier Off South Shore of Bylot is a striking example of Banting’s painterly response to the grandeur of the eastern Arctic. With its bold contours and expressive brushwork, the painting captures a massive glacier descending between two darkened cliffs, its luminous ice extending into the frigid, fragmented sea. Patches of floating ice and the subdued, overcast sky evoke the raw, inhospitable beauty of the North. This was a region Banting would never forget—his arctic paintings are among his most compelling and atmospheric.

Bylot Island would go on to inspire other major Canadian artists, including Lawren Harris, who painted it during his own arctic voyage in 1930. Today, Banting’s works from this pivotal 1927 trip remain highly sought after for their historical importance and rare first-hand vision of Canada’s northern frontier.