2017 May | Hodgins Art Auctions

Notes:

signed

Notes:

signed
Provenance: Kastel Gallery, Westmount, QC (label verso)

Born in Calgary, to an adventurer father, and an artistic mother who taught him to sketch at an early age. Surrey moved around extensively for the first ten years of his life, spending time in exotic locations all over the world. He became good at watching and listening. While his upbringing was rich, his formal education was sporadic. He returned to Canada secretly with his mother in 1921, moving to a Manitoba farm, then to Winnipeg on his own at age 14. It is here that he began his formal artistic education, earning an apprenticeship at Brigden’s in the commercial art department. He began attending classes at the Winnipeg School of Art, under LeMoine FitzGerald and George Overton. Later, he studied under Jock MacDonald and F. H. Varley, at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts. In 1937, after a short period of studies in New York, Surrey settled in Montreal. Here, he spent the following twenty-five years dividing his time between his art and working at the Standard (Weekend Magazine), until his employer afforded him an opportunity to paint full-time. Surrey exhibited successfully and prolifically for the next twenty years. He is best known for his visceral urban scenes, and for his expressive figurative paintings. Surrey captures the duality of human existence in a poetic way: portraying his subjects at once as both social and solitary creatures.

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signed
As a young woman, Laura Muntz immigrated to Canada with her family. Initially working as a school teacher, her passion for art led her to take classes at the Ontario School of Art, where she studied under notable painters of the time, including Lucius O’Brien and George Agnew Reid. In 1891, she set off for Paris on a seven-year scholarship to further study art. While in Europe she went on various excursions to see the works of the masters, and she became greatly influenced by the impressionist style. In Paris, she studied and exhibited at the renowned Académie Colarossi, becoming the first Canadian female artist to receive recognition abroad. She subsequently exhibited and medalled at several international exhibitions. At home, she was the first woman asked to exhibit with the Canadian Art Club, one of the first elected to the Royal Canadian Academy, and the first appointed to the executive council of the Ontario Society of Artists.
While there is a romanticism and idealized sensibility to her portraits, and children were certainly acceptable and typical subject matter for women at that time, Muntz had genuine interest in her young subjects. Her ability for insight to their inner life, and her capacity for care and understanding had served her well when she was a teacher and later, permitted her to take on raising her deceased sister’s eleven children. Laura Muntz Lyall’s ability to really see her young subjects both elevated and added depth to her portraits.

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Reference: David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, “David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings” Volume 1: 1882-1928; p. 99, 105-11
Inscribed by Patsy Milne: Picnic
Inscribed by the Duncan Estate on label: 243
Inscribed by David Milne Jr.: cat
The subject of the painting is Patsy Milne with an unidentified companion.

David Milne has followed a unique and quiet path to his place in Canadian art history. A contemporary of the Group of Seven, Milne’s work is singular…unique in its aesthetic. Equally drawn to the natural landscape, where the group was bold, rugged and nationalistic, Milne reduced his scenes with delicate precision, always looking inward. To Milne art and his life were one.

Born the youngest of 10 children, to a farming family, Milne learned to love nature at an early age, often following his mother around their fields and gardens. Upon graduating high school in 1899, Milne began studying art by correspondence at the Arcade School in New York, while working as a country school teacher. In 1903 he left Ontario to attend art school at the Art Students League in New York, where he studied for 3 years. He subsequently exhibited with the American Watercolour Society and the New York and Pennsylvania Watercolour Clubs and, in 1913, he exhibited five works in the famous Armory Show – he was one of only 3 Canadians to exhibit at the prestigious international exhibition of modern art.

In 1912, Milne married Frances May (Patsy) Hegarty, whom he had met in 1906 while she was a shopgirl at Jungmann’s Drugstore and he was producing showcards for the windows. It was not until three years later that Milne determined that he was ready to begin making portraits of Patsy; etchings and watercolours, often in outdoor settings. It was during their time as newlyweds that this piece was painted. As they shared a love for the country, they left the city to live a quieter life in the hamlet of Boston Corners, where they remained for several years.

In 1929, Milne returned permanently to Canada. He and Patsy separated in 1933, divorcing in 1939 during the most isolated time in Milnes life (while he was at Six Mile Lake). Often called a recluse, Milne was a complex man, whose personal and artistic life were interwoven. His isolation allowed him to focus on his artistic process, and he worked at his craft compulsively. It is clear from all accounts, that Milne was dedicated to the creation of his art above all else in life, and he has left behind an impressive body of work, unique in its contribution to Canadian art.
Literature: Painting Place: The Life and Work of David B. Milne; David P. Silcox (1996); Reflections in a Quiet Pool, The Prints of David Milne; Rosemarie L.Tovell (1980).

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signed; titled on artist’s label verso
Provenance: Estate of the Artist, Victoria, BC
Exhibited: “Maxwell Bates in Retrospect 1921-71”, The Vancouver Art Gallery (Cat. No. 35)

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signed & dated in two places
Provenance: Former corporate collection of Imperial Oil/ Esso Oil, Calgary, AB; The Collector’s Gallery of Art, Calgary, AB (labels verso)

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signed
Provenance: Masters Gallery, Calgary, AB; Former collection of Catherine Evamy, Calgary, AB (label verso)

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signed, titled & dated

Notes:

signed & titled

Notes:

signed; titled on label verso