Sold for: $79,250

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, United Kingdom

LITERATURE
A.J. Casson, My Favorite Watercolours, 1919 to 1957, 1982, page 11

A.J. Casson engaged with watercolour throughout his career, speaking of it as “exceedingly exacting, demanding and unforgiving,” and at the same time saying that no medium gave him more pleasure. Soyers Lake, Haliburton shows Casson at the height of his powers as a watercolourist. A bright and lively palette is given wonderful depth and complexity by the layering of transparent washes of pigment, a difficult technique that Casson insisted on. His meticulous skill as a draughtsman is also at play, for watercolour at this level requires rigorous structure and pre-planning. While displaying the strong graphic and structural hallmarks of Casson’s style, this work also exemplifies the delicacy and intimacy of which watercolour is so capable. Notable, too, is its rare size - the largest standard size Casson produced. Casson noted that all watercolours in these dimensions are studio works based on small en plein air sketches, due to the extreme delicacy of their production being best suited to the controlled environment of the studio. The brilliancy evident in this masterwork results from the skills of an artist in resonant alignment with the demands of his medium.

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