Arthur Lismer
Canadian CGP, CSGA, CSPWC, G7, OC, OSA, RCA [1885-1969]
JACK PINE, GEORGIAN BAY; 1932
watercolour on paper
12.75 x 18.25 in. (32.4 x 46.4 cm)
signed and dated lower right
Georgian Bay, with its windswept pines, rocky islands, and tumultuous skies, drew Arthur Lismer back to paint summer after summer. First visiting in 1913 with Dr. James MacCallum, he quickly fell in love with the region and returned with his family every summer thereafter. “Thousands of islands, little and big, some of them mere rocks just breaking the surface,” he wrote, “some of the trees like miniatures in an oriental garden, their roots seeking tenacious hold in the cracks of the rocks.”
The windswept jack pines of the rocky terrain, now synonymous with the Group of Seven, were among his favourite subjects, their bending rhythms against the westerly wind a natural fit for his loose, energetic style. This 1932 watercolour sketch is a fine example: the gnarled branches and roots of the pine seem to whip across the page, the tree holding fast against the wide expanse.
