Sold for: $31,250

PROVENANCE
Alex Fraser Galleries, Vancouver
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Dennis Reid, Canadian Jungle: The Later Work of Arthur Lismer, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985, page 53 and 54, a similar 1961 oil sketch titled Big Tree, B.C. Forest reproduced page 100

“I’m always expecting Emily Carr to appear from behind a tree,” said Arthur Lismer of the lush west coast forest near Ucluelet, on Vancouver Island. Beginning in 1951, for a number of years, the founding member of the Group of Seven traveled each summer with his wife to this remote area. While staying near Long Beach, Lismer painted starfish and skunk cabbages, but his intimate natural portraits also focused on the forest.

During the 1950s, wrote Dennis Reid, “Lismer’s principal subject … had become the single tree, isolated in the dense forest.” This vibrant close-up of a trunk epitomizes Lismer’s tree studies from a productive and successful time in his career. A rainbow of colour animates the forest floor, and beyond the central tree, with its sweeping branches and sturdy roots, we sense light streaming into the dark woods. Forest Interior, perhaps inspired by Carr, richly evokes the incredible biodiversity and vital life force of the coastal rain forest.

For the biography on Torben V. Kristiansen in PDF format, please click here.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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