Sold for: $28,125

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 14, 2002, lot 241
Private Collection, Nova Scotia

LITERATURE
Paul Duval, A.J. Casson: His Life & Works, A Tribute, 1980, reproduced, unpaginated

While sombre in feel, as its title suggests, this classic and striking oil sketch by A.J. Casson is by no means sorrowful. It still possesses the elegance, grandeur and natural dignity Casson’s best work expresses. Although Casson is most famous as a member of the Group of Seven, it is important to note that many of his most well-known and beloved works are not from the Group period, which ended in 1933, but from the years following. While his Group-era works are essential, his painting Country Crisis (sold by Heffel for a record price in November 2016) was produced in 1940, and The White Pine (in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection) and The Blue Heron (sold by Heffel in May 1996) were both produced circa 1957.

Casson was a young man, not yet 30, when he joined the Group, meaning he still had many years to explore his own distinctive aesthetic vision. This work, produced in 1945, and notably reproduced in Paul Duval’s major 1980 publication on the artist, showcases Casson’s beloved mid-career stylized forms and his masterful control over atmosphere and tone.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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