Click to enlarge

Road Over Cap Tourmente (The St. Lawrence)

pen and ink on card

signed with initials lower right, inscribed “The St. Lawrence” upper right, inscribed “S.S.” in lower and left margins; titled and inscribed “Illustration for The St. Lawrence (Beston), Rivers of America”, “Jackson” and “F & R” on the reverse

4.75 × 7.5 in (12.1 × 19.1 cm) (sheet)

Auction Estimate:$4,000 - $6,000

Sale date:May 25, 2017

Price Realized

$3,450

(including Buyer's Premium)

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist By descent to the current Private Collection, Toronto

Literature

Henry Beston, illustrated by A.Y. Jackson, Rivers of America: The St. Lawrence, Toronto, 1942, reproduced page 214

Sketched by Jackson as one of the illustrations for 1942’s “Rivers of America: The St. Lawrence”, this artwork shares compositional similarities with a number of the painter’s most celebrated works from the 1930s. The viewer is invited to share the journey of the two sets of horses-and-sleighs making their way along the winding road, to their destination, the village become increasingly dense with homes as we move towards the rolling hill at the end of the road, the valley likely wrapping around a small town beyond our gaze. Pencil notations remain in the margins of the drawing with the title written along the upper right edge of the support. This artwork was a gift to the editor of “The St. Lawrence” during the early 1940s and has remained in the family until this offering.