Sold for: $99,450

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ontario

Peter Clapham Sheppard exhibited extensively throughout his career but notably in the 1920s, showing internationally at Wembley in 1925 and the Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1927. He was a versatile painter – talented in depicting figures, coastal scenes, landscapes and still lifes. Sheppard was particularly adept at capturing the energy and activity of urban and industrial scenes, as seen here in Market, in which various figures, either at work or at leisure, bustle about, enjoying the light streaming into this urban space. The location of this particular market is undetermined, but we can assume it is Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto. However, the anonymity of the location allows the viewer to identity with the familiarity of the market scene and draw connections to their own experiences. Sheppard uses his colour palette liberally, adding broad and contrasting strokes of colour, particularly the electric blue surrounding the windows contrasted with pink tones on the roof and mint green on the building’s front. Executed in masterly fashion, this luscious light-filled painting can be seen to have qualities of Canadian Impressionism.

There is an unfinished figurative work on verso.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars