2024 December | Hodgins Art Auctions

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signed lower left; signed, titled and dated verso

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signed lower right

Provenance: Kastel Gallery, Montreal QC

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signed lower right; signed and titled on the original backing paper; titled and dated on the original typed label (attached verso)

Provenance: Masters Gallery, Calgary, AB (label verso)

A. J. Casson was introduced to the members of the Group of Seven in 1920 by Franklin Carmichael, his mentor and friend. The young artist became a regular contributor to Group shows, though did not join them on a sketching trip until 1925. The following year, he accepted the invitation to succeed Franz Johnston, becoming the Group’s youngest member at age 28. In 1926 he was also awarded associate membership of the prestigious Royal Canadian Academy (becoming a full member in 1939).

Casson’s design and illustration history, first at Rous & Mann, then Sampson-Matthews (where he would become art director and vice-president), was integral to the development of his artistic style and to setting his work apart from the Group. Casson also strove to set himself apart with a subject matter that often focused on the farmlands, villages and more settled areas of Ontario.

Here, Casson returns to the roots of the Group, with a quintessential image of Algonquin Park, on a characteristic small panel. Algonquin Park, with its quiet and rugged beauty, was an area originally introduced by Tom Thomson, and to which the Group shared such a strong connection that they had once contemplated the name “Algonquin School”.

Casson was a passionate and avid promoter of this school of distinctly Canadian art. He was active and influential within the artistic community over his long and distinguished career. He served as president of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1948-52), president of the Ontario Society of Artists (1941-44) and sat on several boards including what is now the Art Gallery of Ontario (1955-59). He was also instrumental in founding the Canadian Group of Painters, the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, and in instigating the WWII war artist’s program.

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signed lower right

Provenance: Uno Langmann, Antiques & Art Gallery, Vancouver BC (stamp verso); notes on the stretcher verso indicate that the painting was initially purchased from Homer Watson by Mrs. David Bowman in the 1930’s, and passed by descent to Miss M. Bowman (Burnaby BC); Private collection, Edmonton AB

Note: While Homer Watson was born and died in Doon, Ontario, he was known to have travelled extensively, with trips to Western Canada documented in 1921 and 1929. This work likely dates to the latter trip.

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signed and dated lower right; titled on the exhibition label verso (Memorial Exhibition, Toronto ON, Oct. 1923).

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signed lower right; signed and titled verso

Exhibited: O.S.A. Small Picture Exhibition 1943

Provenance: Corporate collection, Calgary AB

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signed and dated lower right; signed and titled verso

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Provenance: Corporate collection, Calgary AB

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signed lower right

Provenance: LaFlamme Galleries, Calgary AB

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signed lower right; titled verso