signed with initials lower left; signed and titled on the reverse of the board & signed and titled “Summer - Tadoussac, P.Q.” on a label on the reverse
12.75 × 16.75 in (32.4 × 42.5 cm)
Auction Estimate:$7,000 - $9,000
Sale date:May 31, 2016
Price Realized
$8,050
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Private Collection, Ontario
Literature
“Painter Robert Wakeham Pilot Dies At 69”, Montreal Gazette, Dec 19, 1967, page 5
Marc St-Hilaire, “Tadoussac”, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Ottawa, 2009
This painting features a scene from Tadoussac, which is located approximately three hours north of Quebec City along the St Lawrence River. The village has a long and storied past as France's first trading post on the mainland of New France. First European contact to the site was in 1535 by Jacques Cartier, who noted that it was an important seal hunting site for Innu people. By the late seventeenth century, Tadoussac had become the centre of fur trade between the French and First Nations peoples.
During Robert Pilot’s life, the town was a popular travel destination and vacation spot for wealthy Quebecois. Part of its popularity may have been for its perceived health benefits as a rural town. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fresh air and time spent outdoors was considered a cure, prescribed by doctors for most modern ailments. “Tadoussac Village, Summer” leads us through history and, with its warmth and gentle brushstrokes, is a reminder of the best of Canadian summers.
