Please note our offices will be closed from Friday March 29 through Monday April 1 for Easter. Local pick-ups will start on Tuesday April 2.
      
      
      

LOT 121

ALC BCSFA CGP FCA G7 OSA RPS TPG
1885 - 1970
Canadian

Rock, Spruce and Hill - Lake Superior Sketch
oil on board
signed and on verso signed, titled on labels, dated circa 1922 on the gallery label and inscribed with the Doris Mills Inventory #4/100 and "Bess Harris Collection" / "73" and with the artist's symbol
10 3/4 x 14 in, 27.3 x 35.6 cm

Estimate: $200,000 - $250,000 CAD

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Doris Mills, L.S. Harris Inventory, 1936, Lake Superior Sketches, Group 4, catalogue #100, location noted as the Studio Building
Paul Duval, Lawren Harris: Where the Universe Sings, 2011, page 164


After the now famous Group of Seven trips to Algoma, Lawren Harris began to explore and paint around Lake Superior. For Harris, each new painting place was a step in his artistic evolution. Harris commented, “I felt most at home sketching in Superior. It seemed like an empty canvas in front of me waiting to be filled. It was a strong visual break from the busier landscape in Algoma. Superior offered a challenge by its very simplicity and an opportunity to abstract landscape. The motifs there were uncomplicated and the spaces so wide.” This fine painting carries forward Harris’s Algoma palette, but reflects the beginning of change in his depiction of more open space. The rock formations in the foreground are bold and fluidly molded, and behind them, stylized trees stand like a line of sentinels against dusky pink and mauve mountains and a pale, radiant sky. Harris’s inclusion of one blazing golden tree amongst the screen of evergreens is a fine touch and shows his keen awareness of composition – it is a brilliant foil to the darker hues of the evergreens and the sculpted rocks.


Estimate: $200,000 - $250,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.