Artwork by Doris Jean McCarthy,  Evening at Pangnirtung (1989)

Doris McCarthy
Evening at Pangnirtung (1989)

watercolour
signed lower right; signed, titled and inscribed “890805” & “DM6464” on the reverse
22 x 30 ins ( 55.9 x 76.2 cms )

Auction Estimate: $4,000.00$3,000.00 - $4,000.00

Price Realized $3,450.00
Sale date: May 28th 2015

Provenance:
Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto
Corporate Collection, Ontario
Literature:
Stuart Reid, “Island Sketches: Thoughts on the Watercolour Paintings of Doris McCarthy”, “Celebrating Life: The Art of Doris McCarthy”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, 1999, page 36 (chronology) and pages 212, 214 and 219
McCarthy was fascinated with the Canadian Arctic and frequently returned to this subject matter. “Within all her great body of work, gleaned from her travels that have taken her around the world, perhaps the most powerful and poetic works she has completed are those which address the grand, mysterious islands of ice.” Sometimes she worked on site and other times took photographs she would later refer to in her studio. During the latter, she “relied on sensual recollections of light, the wind and weather, the character of the place.”

McCarthy visited Pangnirtung with Nancy Wright and Audrey Garwood from June 21 to July 3 in 1989, where she would have been inspired to create “Evening at Pangnirtung”. Pangnirtung is located on Baffin Island in Nunavut, and was one of McCarthy's favourite places to paint in Canada.


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Doris Jean McCarthy
(1910 - 2010) RCA, OSA

Born in Calgary, Alberta, McCarthy attended the Ontario College of Art from 1926–1930 where she was awarded various scholarships and prizes. She became a teacher shortly thereafter and taught most frequently at Central Technical School in downtown Toronto from 1932 until she retired in 1972. She spent most of her life living and working in Scarborough, Ontario though she travelled abroad extensively and painted the landscapes of various countries including: Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, England and Ireland. McCarthy was probably best-known for her Canadian landscapes and her depictions of Arctic icebergs.

McCarthy's work has been exhibited and collected extensively in Canada and abroad, in both public and private art galleries including: The National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, and The Doris McCarthy Art Gallery. McCarthy also penned three autobiographies chronicling the various stages of her life: A Fool in Paradise (Toronto: MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1990), The Good Wine (Toronto: MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1991), and Ninety Years Wise (Toronto: Second Story Press, 2004). She was also the recipient of the Order of Ontario, the Order of Canada; honorary degrees from the University of Calgary, the University of Toronto, Trent University, the University of Alberta, and Nipissing University; and an honorary fellowship from the Ontario College of Art and Design. She died on November 25, 2010.