signed lower left; the Artist’s estate stamp, titled and dated circa 1939 on the reverse
8.5 × 10.5 in (21.6 × 26.7 cm)
Auction Estimate:$3,000 - $4,000
Sale date:November 20 - 29, 2013
Price Realized
$2,760
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
The Estate of the Artist.
Roberts Gallery, Toronto.
Private Collection, Ontario.
Literature
Ross King, “Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven”, Vancouver/Kleinburg, 2011, page 39.
A close associate and friend to members of the Group of Seven, P.C. Sheppard frequently accompanied his fellow painters on sketching expeditions in the city of Toronto. Discussing such an outing by Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald and Sheppard on the city's lakeshore, Ross King makes note of the trio of painters' ability in “beautifying their city's industrialized urban landscape.” Sheppard here does just that, elevating a scene dominated by industry, with the silos, smokestacks and distillery buildings of Toronto's east end playing a central role in the colourful painting, framed by the silhouette of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce building on the left (noted as the tallest building in the Commonwealth from 1930 to 1962) and a powerfully pointed church spire to the right.
