Credit Forks (1928), 1928

Roberts Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto Masters Gallery Limited, Calgary Private Collection, Calgary

Paul Duval, “Canadian Water Colour Painting”, Toronto, 1954, unpaginated

Describing the first two decades of the twentieth century as “unproductive” with regard to the art of watercolour painting in Canada, Paul Duval noted that even the press had complained that focus toward the art form seemed to be vanishing from exhibitions and galleries. With few clear successors to celebrated Canadian watercolourists of the nineteenth century, one commentator wrote in 1922 that “the younger men, without exception, seem to prefer the bolder effects that can be secured in oils.” However, A.J. Casson and fellow Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael held the watercolour medium in high regard, the young artists feeling “that there should be a place where water colours could be seen together.” In November 1925, the pair met with fellow artist Frederick Brigden to form the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, holding its first exhibition of twenty-four artists in April 1926. Duval wrote of Casson’s devotion to watercolour, noting that “much of his best work has been accomplished in it.” Given the boldness and harmony of “Credit Forks”, it is not surprising that Duval categorized Casson’s work in the medium as “one of the highest levels of performance in Canadian water colour painting.”