Lot 10
Lawren Stewart Harris (1885-1970), Canadian
LAKE SUPERIOR SKETCH, VI, CA. 1925-1928
oil on panel
titled to gallery labels verso; inscribed with the Doris Mills inventory no. 4/6 for Group 4, catalogue #6 verso
12 x 15 in — 30.5 x 38.1 cm
Estimate: $700,000—900,000 CAD
-
Provenance:
Laing Fine Art Galleries Limited, Toronto, ON
Private Collection, Toronto, ON
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto, ON - Dimensions: 12 x 15 in — 30.5 x 38.1 cm
- Literature: Doris Mills, L.S. Harris Inventory, 1936, Lake Superior Sketches, Group 4, catalogue #6, with a drawing by Hans Jensen, location noted as the Studio Building.
- Medium: oil on panel
-
Notes:
Elemental and precise,
Lake Superior Sketch VI is a powerful work from the height of Lawren S. Harris’ landscape career. Painted in the late 1920s, the brooding serenity of the piece captures the artist’s carefully honed ability to translate the majesty of one of Canada’s grandest landscapes onto his sketching panels. A calm is exuded as clouds pass over a silent and deep body of water, with the dark and distant horizon suggesting the foreboding possibility of more ominous weather to come. There is a carefully calibrated minimalism to the composition, and an interplay between the lake and sky that brings a unity, with the cloud forms mimicked by the patterns on the surface of the water. The result, as with other of Harris’ monumental Lake Superior works, draws the viewer into a heightened and dramatic world, inviting reflection and a renewed appreciation. In
Lake Superior Sketch VI, Harris has been able to pull the landscape, built on ancient, Precambrian shield, into the modern artistic realm, distilling a universal essence that he felt could resonate with the underlying truth he sought on a spiritual and personal level.
In the period between 1915 and 1930, Harris’ landscape work evolved rapidly, often catalyzed by his shifting subject matter. In 1921, Harris discovered a new opportunity imbued with an expansive and powerful sensibility – the north shore of Lake Superior. It would become the site of many of his most transformational and important works, and he would return to it almost annually until the end of the 1920s, always in the Fall, to explore the recently burnt-over headlands and their varied vistas looking out over the massive lake. From meditative calm to violent storm, the energy of Lake Superior pushed Harris’ work into new territory, expanding the boundaries of Canadian artistic expression.
While Harris’ style is unmistakably his own, it continued to develop and change throughout his career as he became increasingly engaged with the development of abstraction and international modernism. Lake Superior Sketch VI, a bold and commanding work, was painted in the years between 1925 and 1928, a period where Harris began to transcend his ambitions of fostering a distinctly Canadian approach to art and integrate with wider, international modernist approaches. In 1926, he was the sole Canadian representative in The International Exhibition of Modern Art in Brooklyn, New York, arranged by Société Anonyme. While Harris’ artistic ambitions had expanded to a larger audience, at the core was still the mission of depicting his home country, highlighted in his exhibition catalogue biography: “Rightly or wrongly Lawren Harris feels that a people can be united only through its creations and therefore they must create their own artistic idioms before they can become articulate as a people and commence to live in profound reality.”[1]
The austere and dignified simplicity of Lake Superior Sketch VI’s composition is a prime example of the novel work that Harris was originating in Canada, where modern art sensibilities manifested through highly local and grounded subjects. His approach to painting was deeply connected to time spend in these environments, a process he felt advanced his development, writing: “One can almost guarantee that two months in our North country of direct experience in creative living in art will bring about a very marked change in the attitude of any creative individual.”[2] Painted at one of his favoured sketching sites near Port Coldwell, Harris uses his familiarity with the region to distill its essence to its most critical elements.
For this composition, we view the perspective looking south from atop Premier Mountain, the highest hill in the area, which Harris and his fellow artists referred to colloquially as ‘Old Bill’. One the right side of the picture, the edge of Foster Island overlaps with Sullivan Island beyond. The two create a path into the expanse of the inland sea, with several smaller islands excluded from the composition in an act of artistic liberty. This vantage point produced a series of important Harris sketches in the late 1920s, all of them showcasing slightly different methods of selection. From this collection of panels, he also created at least four major canvases: Lake Superior III (Thomson Collection at Art Gallery of Ontario), Lake Superior No. IV (Art Gallery of Ontario), Lake Superior (National Gallery of Canada) and Clouds, Lake Superior(Winnipeg Art Gallery). Through his selections, and their varying atmospheric and temporal conditions, they each provoke distinct and unique responses, while remaining quintessentially Harris, illuminating the viewer with his pared down and distilled perspective.
At this point in his career, Harris was confident in his works being presented without artifice or elaboration, instead allowing them to speak directly for themselves to the audience, open to their interpretation and response. Therefore, this work, like many others, was not given a title by the artist, but instead is referred to by the number assigned by Doris Mills in a 1936 Inventory of works Harris left in his studio in Toronto when he moved to the United States.
[1] Katherine Dreier, International Exhibition of Modern Art arranged by the Societe Anonyme for the Brooklyn Museum. November - December 1926. p. 7.
[2] Bess Harris and R.G.P. Colgrove, editors, Lawren Harris, 1969, p. 48.
Contributed by Alec Blair. Blair is the director of the Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, working with the estate of the artist to put together a catalogue of the artist’s works. He is based in Vancouver, BC. -
Condition:
Very good overall condition.
Independent condition report available upon request.
Accepted Forms of Payment:
ACH, American Express, MasterCard, Other, Visa, Wire Transfer
Shipping
The Auctioneers will not undertake packing or shipping. The purchaser must designate and arrange for the services of an independent shipper and be responsible for all shipping and insurance expenses. The Auctioneers will, upon request, provide names of professional packers and shippers but will not be held responsible for the service or have any liability for providing this information. Reliable pre-auction estimates of shipping costs of lots offered in this sale may be obtained from:
PICK UP & SHIPPING FROM TORONTO:
When contacting the shippers please have your invoice # and item information ready.
PakShip
Attn: Taurus Chan
Tel: 905.470.6874
416.293.8225
Fax: 905.470.6875
[email protected]
www.pakship.ca
Safer Shipping
Attn: Perry Hehn
Tel: 416.299.3367
Fax: 416.299.9750
[email protected]
www.safershipping.ca
PICK UP & SHIPPING FROM VANCOUVER:
Please note that lots in our Waddington's West auctions are located in Vancouver, B.C. When contacting the shippers please have your invoice # and item information ready.
Flashpack
Attn: Wing Liu
Tel: 604-270-8989
[email protected]
Denbigh Fine Art Services
Tel: 604-876-3303
[email protected]
Armstrong Fine Art Services
Tel: 905-362-5487
[email protected]
The UPS Store 424
Tel: 604-559-5446
[email protected]
The Shipping Box
Tel: 604-807-0884
[email protected]
For any additional questions, please contact us at [email protected]
CITES WARNING:
Restrictions exist regarding the import and export of species protected under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). This includes but is not limited to items made of or containing bone (whalebone etc.), ivory, tortoise shell, seal skin, rhinoceros horn and any other animal part and is strictly controlled or forbidden by most countries. Please review your country's laws before bidding on pieces made of or containing these restricted items. It is the sole responsibility of the buyer to inquire about and obtain the proper permits for artwork purchased that may contain restricted materials, if such permit can be obtained. Please contact the department for further assistance. For more information please visit www.cites.org
Waddington's
View full terms and conditions
| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| CA$0 | CA$199 | CA$10 |
| CA$200 | CA$499 | CA$20 |
| CA$500 | CA$999 | CA$50 |
| CA$1,000 | CA$1,999 | CA$100 |
| CA$2,000 | CA$4,999 | CA$200 |
| CA$5,000 | CA$9,999 | CA$500 |
| CA$10,000 | CA$19,999 | CA$1,000 |
| CA$20,000 | CA$49,999 | CA$2,000 |
| CA$50,000 | CA$99,999 | CA$5,000 |
| CA$100,000 | CA$299,999 | CA$10,000 |
| CA$300,000 | CA$999,999 | CA$25,000 |
| CA$1,000,000 | CA$1,999,999 | CA$50,000 |
| CA$2,000,000 | CA$2,999,999 | CA$100,000 |
| CA$3,000,000 | CA$4,999,999 | CA$200,000 |
| CA$5,000,000 + | CA$300,000 |