FARMHOUSE IN FALL

oil on canvas

25 x 28 in. (63.5 x 71.1 cm)

Price Realized:

$ 33000 CAD.

INCLUDES BUYER’S PREMIUM

Notes:

signed with initials lower left

In 1911, a then 29-year-old A.Y. Jackson made his third trip to Europe. He spent most of his time in France, and then travelled on to England, where he made a brief stop in Leeds. He notes in his autobiography, “A Painter’s Country”: “I went to visit an elderly cousin, Will Beck, and painted the only canvases I have ever made of England.”

“Farmhouse in Fall”, which originally came out of an estate in Rishton, Lancashire in 2019, is believed to be one of two canvases that survived from this trip to England. The other, titled “Factory at Leeds” (in a private collection), was for many years thought to be the only example. Canadian art historian Dennis Reid (1943-2023) wrote about “Farmhouse in Fall” when it was first offered in the Canadian market: “The handling suggests that it is very early, certainly before 1920. (Jackson’s) characteristic manner of depicting tree trunks goes back to the beginning of his career, as does the wonderfully loose yet substantial fashion in which he creates his view of the sky and the ground.”

In contextualizing the canvas, Reid referenced “Factory at Leeds”: “The pigments and much of the handling in the factory painting are very similar to the country scene … The two canvases are essentially the same size, as well. I’m quite sure now that (“Farmhouse in Fall”) is of the countryside near Leeds, painted in 1912. He was painting on site directly on to canvases quite often at that time, and I feel that that is the case here.”