Sold for: $105,300

PROVENANCE
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by Mr. Ameen Aboud
By descent to a Private Collection, Ontario
Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 15, 2013, lot 111
Private Collection, British Columbia

Purchased at Heffel's Spring 2013 auction for $105,300 including Buyer's Premium
Estimate was $90,000 - $120,000

A.J. Casson joined the Group of Seven in 1926, but, as the youngest member, knew he had to forge his own identity amongst them. Acknowledging the fact that A.Y. Jackson had mastered the Quebec village, Casson turned his hand to the Ontario village – and these works have contributed vitally to Casson’s stature within the Group and Canadian art history. Casson was an inveterate traveler who loved to drive to remote spots in his Willys Whippet car. He sought to capture the effects of light and shade on the landscape, but also wanted to record the architecture and atmosphere of these remote villages. This magnificent work combines two of Casson’s great strengths; his ability to bring an almost spiritual presence to the stark forms of a Northern Ontario village and his sophisticated handling of the massive Precambrian rock forms surrounding Ontario’s lakes. The scene is devoid of human activity, yet this somehow increases one’s sense of the human presence within the village. Art historian Paul Duval felt that, in this regard, Casson’s work had its parallel in the work of the well-known American artist Edward Hopper.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars