Corbeau at Montmorency Falls
53.3 cms x 67.3 cms (21 ins x 26.5 ins)
Signed, titled and dated 1845 towards lower left
made in 1845
Lot offered for sale by Cowley Abbott, Toronto at the auction event "An Important Private Collection of Canadian Art (Session 2)" held on Wed, Dec 6, 2023.
Lot 44269
Lot 44269
Estimate: CAD $150,000 - $250,000
Realised: CAD $744,000
Realised: CAD $744,000
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Commissioned by Allan Gilmour
By descent to the Gilmour family, Liverpool
Sir John Gilmour, Liverpool, by 1962
Oscar Gagnon, Cobalt, Ontario
Acquired by the present Private Collection, March 1977
Exhibitions:
"Collector’s Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection", Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; travelling to Musée du Québec, Quebec City; Vancouver Art Gallery; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 14 May 1988–7 May 1989, no. 2
"The Spectacle of Play", Art Gallery of Hamilton, 25 May 2013–13 January 2014
"Embracing Canada: Landscapes from Krieghoff to the Group of Seven", Vancouver Art Gallery; travelling to the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; Art Gallery of Hamilton, 30 October 2015–25 September 2016
"Chefs-d’œuvres de l’exposition ‘Embracing Canada’", Galerie Eric Klinkhoff, Montreal, 22 October–5 November 2016
Literature:
Klaus Neumann, ‘Everybody’s Art Boom: Early Canadiana, "Maclean’s Magazine", 16 July 1960, reproduced page 18
John Russell Harper, "Painting in Canada: A History", Toronto, 1966, page 129, (2nd edition, 1977, page 103)
Mike Pearson, ‘Cobalt Resident Treasures 132-Year-Old Canadian Painting’, "Northern Daily News", 20 January 1977
Dennis Reid, "Collector's Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection", Toronto, 1988, no. 2, reproduced on page 16 and on the cover
Victoria Baker and Didier Prioul, ‘Robert Clow Todd’, "Painting in Quebec, 1820–1850: New Views, New Perspectives, Quebec City", 1991, pages 482–489, no. 224A
Mario Béland, ‘À l’anse aux Sauvages, "Cap-aux-Diamants," no. 69, (Spring 2002), page 63
Ian Thom, ed., "Embracing Canada: Landscapes from Krieghoff to the Group of Seven", Vancouver, 2015, reproduced pages 6 and 7, caption page 203
Notes:
Robert Clow Todd, artist, decorative painter (b at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Eng c 1809; d at Toronto 7 May 1866). Todd left a lively record of Quebec winter life in a series of horse-and-sleigh paintings reminiscent of British artist Stubbs, whose work Todd may have admired while decorating carriages in Edinburgh and London before coming to Quebec City in 1834. In Quebec, sportsmen and officers commissioned him to paint pictures of their favourite horses; he also did summer views of Montmorency Falls and the Quebec docks. He moved to Toronto in 1853, advertising as "banner, herald, sign and ornamental painter," but business was poor. He is best remembered for the crisp linear finesse and feeling for the local scene in paintings such as The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls (c 1845). He taught at both the Seminaire de Quebec and Loretto Abbey, Toronto.
Commissioned by Allan Gilmour
By descent to the Gilmour family, Liverpool
Sir John Gilmour, Liverpool, by 1962
Oscar Gagnon, Cobalt, Ontario
Acquired by the present Private Collection, March 1977
Exhibitions:
"Collector’s Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection", Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; travelling to Musée du Québec, Quebec City; Vancouver Art Gallery; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 14 May 1988–7 May 1989, no. 2
"The Spectacle of Play", Art Gallery of Hamilton, 25 May 2013–13 January 2014
"Embracing Canada: Landscapes from Krieghoff to the Group of Seven", Vancouver Art Gallery; travelling to the Glenbow Museum, Calgary; Art Gallery of Hamilton, 30 October 2015–25 September 2016
"Chefs-d’œuvres de l’exposition ‘Embracing Canada’", Galerie Eric Klinkhoff, Montreal, 22 October–5 November 2016
Literature:
Klaus Neumann, ‘Everybody’s Art Boom: Early Canadiana, "Maclean’s Magazine", 16 July 1960, reproduced page 18
John Russell Harper, "Painting in Canada: A History", Toronto, 1966, page 129, (2nd edition, 1977, page 103)
Mike Pearson, ‘Cobalt Resident Treasures 132-Year-Old Canadian Painting’, "Northern Daily News", 20 January 1977
Dennis Reid, "Collector's Canada: Selections from a Toronto Private Collection", Toronto, 1988, no. 2, reproduced on page 16 and on the cover
Victoria Baker and Didier Prioul, ‘Robert Clow Todd’, "Painting in Quebec, 1820–1850: New Views, New Perspectives, Quebec City", 1991, pages 482–489, no. 224A
Mario Béland, ‘À l’anse aux Sauvages, "Cap-aux-Diamants," no. 69, (Spring 2002), page 63
Ian Thom, ed., "Embracing Canada: Landscapes from Krieghoff to the Group of Seven", Vancouver, 2015, reproduced pages 6 and 7, caption page 203
Notes:
Robert Clow Todd, artist, decorative painter (b at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Eng c 1809; d at Toronto 7 May 1866). Todd left a lively record of Quebec winter life in a series of horse-and-sleigh paintings reminiscent of British artist Stubbs, whose work Todd may have admired while decorating carriages in Edinburgh and London before coming to Quebec City in 1834. In Quebec, sportsmen and officers commissioned him to paint pictures of their favourite horses; he also did summer views of Montmorency Falls and the Quebec docks. He moved to Toronto in 1853, advertising as "banner, herald, sign and ornamental painter," but business was poor. He is best remembered for the crisp linear finesse and feeling for the local scene in paintings such as The Ice Cone, Montmorency Falls (c 1845). He taught at both the Seminaire de Quebec and Loretto Abbey, Toronto.
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 Cowley Abbott auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Cowley Abbott auction house for permission to use.