Houses
27.3 cms x 34.9 cms (10.75 ins x 13.75 ins)
On verso titled on the howard k. harris estate label and inscribed "howard" / "b-27" and "33"
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "November 2021 Online auction" held on Thu, Nov 25, 2021.
Lot 0405
Lot 0405
Estimate: CAD $4,000 - $6,000
Realised: CAD $43,250
Realised: CAD $43,250
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Collection of the Artist
Estate of Howard K. Harris
By descent within the Harris family to the present Private Collection
Notes:
In addition to the serene lakes and expansive forests of Northern Ontario, many Toronto artists in the 1920s and 1930s found inspiration in the province’s rural settlements, including places like the mining town of Cobalt, likely the subject of this expressive sketch. Group of Seven members Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson painted there, and Bess Harris’s close friend Yvonne McKague’s depictions of the town included a celebrated canvas in the National Gallery of Canada. Harris’s own work in this area was the subject of several canvases, and there is much in common between the composition and subject of this sketch, with its receding steep road, raised boardwalk and distinctive houses, and the circa 1928 canvas Day’s End (sold by Heffel fall 2015, lot 110, which set a record for the artist). Details of Harris’s sketching trips in the 1920s are sparse, but it is clear this subject was important to her, as Day’s End was chosen as her contribution to the 1933 inaugural exhibition by the Canadian Group of Painters, of which she was a charter member.
We thank Alec Blair, Director/Lead Researcher, Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, for contributing the above essay.
Please note the condition report for this work.
Collection of the Artist
Estate of Howard K. Harris
By descent within the Harris family to the present Private Collection
Notes:
In addition to the serene lakes and expansive forests of Northern Ontario, many Toronto artists in the 1920s and 1930s found inspiration in the province’s rural settlements, including places like the mining town of Cobalt, likely the subject of this expressive sketch. Group of Seven members Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson painted there, and Bess Harris’s close friend Yvonne McKague’s depictions of the town included a celebrated canvas in the National Gallery of Canada. Harris’s own work in this area was the subject of several canvases, and there is much in common between the composition and subject of this sketch, with its receding steep road, raised boardwalk and distinctive houses, and the circa 1928 canvas Day’s End (sold by Heffel fall 2015, lot 110, which set a record for the artist). Details of Harris’s sketching trips in the 1920s are sparse, but it is clear this subject was important to her, as Day’s End was chosen as her contribution to the 1933 inaugural exhibition by the Canadian Group of Painters, of which she was a charter member.
We thank Alec Blair, Director/Lead Researcher, Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, for contributing the above essay.
Please note the condition report for this work.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.