Sold for: $14,040

PROVENANCE
Continental Galleries, Montreal
The PSBGM Cultural Heritage Foundation
Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 17, 2013, lot 142
Private Collection, Vancouver

The horse-drawn carriage in service as a cab was a popular subject in the work of several of Canada’s turn-of-the-century era painters. Often situated on busy corners or, as here, under the shade of a stately tree, horses rested, drivers chatted and people came and went. One rig would be replaced by the next in turn, and artists could set up across the street to sketch as the day’s passengers were collected and delivered to their destinations. Cabbies at McGill is a charming window into life in old Montreal. Robert Pilot has painted the line of cabs, one horse resting, the next more alert, under the lively spring-green foliage of tall, black-trunked trees. It is a verdant, tranquil scene, with unhurried people and an air of pleasant calm. The cabs have their tops pulled back, indicating the fine weather, and the iron fence, painted in a tone that echoes that of the tree trunks, breaks up the mossy green of the lawn behind it.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars