AAM RCA
1866 - 1934
Canadian
The Church at Sault-au-Récollet
oil on canvas, circa 1910
signed and on verso titled "The Church at Sault-aux-Récollets" on the Walter Klinkhoff gallery label and certified by the Cullen inventory #1123
15 x 18 in, 38.1 x 45.7 cm
Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD
Sold for: $23,750
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Watson Art Galleries, Montreal
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 28, 2013, lot 171
Private Collection, Toronto
EXHIBITED
The Arts Club, Montreal, Fourth Annual Exhibition of Works of Art, November 25, 1916, as Sault-au-Recollet, catalogue #42A or #54 (possibly)
Watson Art Galleries, Montreal, Cullen Exhibition, January 1934, exhibited as Church at Sault au Recollets, catalogue #3
In 1905, Maurice Cullen and William Brymner built a studio at Saint-Eustache, northwest of the Island of Montreal on the Rivière des Milles-Îles, part of the Ottawa River. Up to this time, Cullen’s favoured Quebec sketching sites had been around Quebec City, the Beaupré coast on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, and the streets and squares of Montreal. Now his subjects included landscapes of Saint-Eustache and Rivière du Chêne and, farther east, Sault-au-Récollet, at the north end of the island of Montreal.
The area was still largely rural, dotted with small villages. Founded in the early eighteenth century, the village of Sault-au-Récollet overlooked the Rivière-des-Prairies, an important resource for ice cutters in a pre-refrigerator age. The Church of the Visitation de la Bienheureuse-Vierge-Marie, the oldest surviving church on the island, dominates the river’s edge. Painted in subtle browns and greys, this tonalist painting effectively evokes the calm of the small village in the late winter.
We thank Charles C. Hill, former curator of Canadian art from 1980 to 2014 at the National Gallery of Canada and author of The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation, for contributing the above essay.
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.