Arthur Lismer

Lot # 144 Arthur Lismer AAM CGP CSGA CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1885 - 1969 Canadian Undergrowth in the Pine Woods - Georgian Bay oil on board signed and dated 1950 and on verso signed, titled, dated on a label and inscribed "21" 12 x 16 in 30.5 x 40.6cm Provenance: Private Collection, Vancouver Island Literature: Dennis Reid, Canadian Jungle, The Later Work of Arthur Lismer, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985, page 46 In July of 1950, Arthur Lismer was back at his beloved Georgian Bay, and spent time at both Amanda Island and Manitou Dock. Lismer was interested not only in the dramatic vistas and turbulent elemental weather there, but also in life at ground level. Lismer noted that his fellow Group of Seven artists looked over the foreground into the distance, and now he chose to look at the earth at his feet, where everything originated. Twisting roots, rocks thrusting their way to the surface, random fallen forest debris and plucky small plants surviving in the stoney ground were the raw material of his forest floor still lifes. Art historian Dennis Reid feels that the paintings Lismer produced during the summer of 1950 at both Cape Breton Island and Georgian Bay were vital and exciting, exhibiting "the outrageous hedonism of their sensuous materiality". In Undergrowth in the Pine Woods - Georgian Bay, Lismer revels in the pure joy of the painterly experience, scumbling and incising his paint, depicting golden leaves cavorting amongst the stolid rocks of the Canadian Shield with vital, expressionist brush-strokes. Estimate: $12,000 ~ $16,000 CAD Preview at: Heffel Fine Art Auction House Vancouver

Lot # 113 Arthur Lismer AAM CGP CSGA CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1885 - 1969 Canadian Figure Sketches ink on paper initialed and on verso certified by the "A. Lismer Estate" stamp 10 3/4 x 14 3/4 in 27.3 x 37.5cm Provenance: Manuge Galleries Limited, Halifax Galerie Valentin, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal Estimate: $1,000 ~ $1,500 CAD Preview at: Heffel Gallery Montreal

Lot # 103 Arthur Lismer AAM CGP CSGA CSPWC G7 OSA RCA 1885 - 1969 Canadian Shafts of Light in the BC Forest oil on canvas circa 1952 signed twice 26 x 21 in 66 x 53.3cm Provenance: The Art Emporium, Vancouver, 1973 Private Collection, Vancouver Literature: Robert Ayre, "A Sheaf of Summer Sketches", Canadian Art, Volume XIII, Winter, 1956, page 228 Dennis Reid, Canadian Jungle, The Later Work of Arthur Lismer, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985, page 53 In 1951, Arthur Lismer discovered a new painting place when he traveled to Vancouver Island, exploring Long Beach on its west coast, as well as Galiano, Pender and Saltspring Islands. The West Coast made such an impact that he returned over 16 summers, painting both shore and inner forest. Robert Ayre described Lismer's experience at Wickaninnish at Long Beach: "Lismer swims and catches crabs, paints and helps Joe cut trails through the jungle, choked with salal, ground sumac and skunk cabbage. You could get lost in the dense tropical growth of the cedar swamps." The huge trees on the coast captured Lismer's imagination, as did Emily Carr's depictions of them; he stated, "I'm always expecting Emily Carr to appear from behind a tree." In Shafts of Light in the BC Forest, a cathedral-like forest is lit from within by shafts of warm light that spill over a forest floor further illuminated by splashes of pink and orange. Lismer's bold brush-strokes and textural approach to paint serve to further emphasize the power of the trees and the vigour of the West Coast rain forest.

LOT 37 ARTHUR LISMER, O.S.A., R.C.A. FOREST INTERIOR, oil on board, signed 16" x 12"; 40 cm x 30 cm Auction Estimate: $20000 / $25000 Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist. Alfred E. Crowley, Montreal. By descent to the present owner, Ontario. Literature: John A.B. McLeish, September Gale: A Study of Arthur Lismer and the Group of Seven, Toronto/Vancouver, 1955, pages 185-187. While discussing Arthur Lismer’’’’s depictions of the Canadian West Coast, McLeish notes that, “in spite of the noble landscapes and the unimaginable blues of the great Pacific coast, it was in the purest sense for Lismer an unhuman land: ‘This is a country that has never been tamed by man,’’’’ he once remarked. ‘It only puts up with man; man has no governance here.’’’’ In such a mood of mingled awe and amazement at the beauty and imperious mastery of the Pacific country, Lismer would set off into the nearest heart of the wilderness, and oblivious to summer heat and the sting and nuisance of black flies and mosquitos, paint purposefully and forcefully among the cathedral dimensions of the firs and among the indefatigable thrustings of what he called ‘the northern jungle growth’’’’ of British Columbia.” The largest distributor of artist supplies in Canada during the 1930s, C.R. Crowley Limited served the artistic community across the country for generations, the family’’’’s involvement in the industry beginning during the 1880s. The firm imported materials of the highest quality from around the world and shipped orders to artists and art professionals nationally and internationally. This service to the community led to the family’’’’s association and friendship with numerous noted twentieth century Canadian artists, including members of the Group of Seven. The family recalls that “Forest Interior” was acquired from Lismer in return for art supplies, the transaction believed to have taken place during the early 1950s.

LOT 95 ARTHUR LISMER, O.S.A., R.C.A. A CONTINENTAL TOWN SCENE, watercolour, signed 9 3/4" x 7 1/4"; 24.4 cm x 18.1 cm Auction Estimate: $3000 / $4000 Provenance: Manuge Galleries Limited, Halifax. Private Collection, Ontario. Literature: Marjorie Lismer Bridges, A Border of Beauty, Toronto, 1977, (page 23), colour illustration, for a watercolour entitled Antwerp, 1908. Lois Darroch, Bright Land, A Warm Look at Arthur Lismer, Toronto, 1981, pages 6-7 and page 17, Plate 1 for a watercolour entitled The Canal at Doncaster, 1906. Painted circa 1907.