While more focus tends to be spent on the works Franz Johnston produced in the years he was most closely associated with the Group of Seven, examples from after that period, such as Wilderness Pool, can also show a differing mastery as a painter. While maintaining elements of his impasto brushwork most associated with his early Group work, here he adds a dramatic, classical sense of lighting. The resulting sense of space is then heighted by his use of the light tones of the sun-dappled background and his darker palette in the more sombre, shaded foreground. While painterly, the work also incorporates a fine sense of draughtsmanship in the tangled rhythms of the branches and the pastel-like applications of blue highlights in the water. A fascinating study in counterpoint, this work speaks to how in his early departure from the Group Johnston sought a diverging approach which more aligned with his shifting artistic sensibility.