Sold for: $11,875

PROVENANCE
Collection of Victor Isganaitis, Montreal
Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary

“We always said that Sarah was the size of a mouse and had the courage of a lion.” – Naomi Jackson Groves.

Montreal painter Sarah Robertson is best known for her charming and colourful depictions of the countryside. She enjoyed a comfortable upbringing, complete with an idyllic country home at Chambly, an off-island suburb of Montreal, where she had ample opportunity for plein air sketching. But by 1922, the Robertson family fell on hard times – they were forced to sell the house at Chambly, and Robertson’s father died shortly thereafter. Despite financial obstacles, Robertson maintained a steadfast commitment to her craft. She was the recipient of multiple scholarships, and attended the Art Association of Montreal from 1909 to 1924, studying under William Brymner, Maurice Cullen and Randolph Hewton. She became a founding member of the Beaver Hall Group of painters (1920 to 1922), and later, the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933. While formally the Beaver Hall Group was short-lived, the women painters associated with the group maintained a lifelong camaraderie. For Robertson, these friendships provided crucial opportunities for sketching trips in the countryside - she stayed with Prudence Heward’s family at Fernbank near Brockville, visited Nora Collyer in the Eastern Townships and traveled to rural Vermont.

From the Porch depicts a view from Stowe, Vermont where a broad valley runs between the Green Mountains to the west and the Worcester Range to the east. This lively panel is a fine example of Robertson’s spirited handling of her favourite subject – her affinity for the idyllic countryside is coupled with a confident Modernist sensibility. The bold layering of the green hills cumulates in the rich Blue Mountains, and gestural detailing in the foreground is mirrored lyrically in the wispy clouds on the horizon. Arthur Lismer praised Robertson’s work in a 1934 review of a Hart House exhibition in the Montreal Star, stating “Her landscapes are living examples that nature is a source and not a standard, and she has the courage to create landscapes, and not copy them literally.”

During her life, Robertson’s work was included in numerous group exhibitions, notably with the Group of Seven (1928, 1930 and 1931), Heward and Isabel McLaughlin at Toronto's Hart House (1934), and Heward, Anne Savage and Ethel Seath at the Art Gallery of Toronto (1940). In 1951, the National Gallery of Canada held a memorial exhibition of Robertson’s work.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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