signed and dated “February 2004” lower right; titled on the original gallery label verso
Provenance: Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto ON; Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton AB (labels verso)
Christopher Pratt was a beloved Canadian painter, celebrated for his high realist, evocative depictions of the Atlantic Canadian landscape. Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and mentored early in his career by fellow Atlantic artist Alex Colville, Pratt spent his career exploring his home province, capturing the landscapes and architecture around him.
Depicted in “White Winter Road” is the snowy Trans-Canada Highway, quiet and ominous, and lit only by headlights as it winds through the forest around Georges Lake in West Newfoundland. Road trips across Newfoundland became a critical part of Pratt’s practice, and from the 1990s onward, roadscapes became more prominent subject matter in his work. Pratt documented these travels in his journals and sketches, reflecting on the environment and his personal interpretations.
“My work is essentially autobiographical,” he noted in 2004, “[it] essentially comes from my environment, but you have to take a very broad view of the term environment. It’s also the environment of things that I have read and encountered subsequently. [The] bottom line really is that my work is the response to my life.”
Pratt was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1973 and became a Companion in 1983. In 1980, he was commissioned by the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to design the provincial flag, and his works can be found in the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and other important collections across the country. Pratt continued to work up until his death at the age of 86, in June 2022.