High on the Rock #4, 2007

Born in Toronto in 1938, Ron Bolt carries on the tradition of Canadian landscape painting through a more contemporary vision. The artist focuses more specifically on capturing the sublime coastlines and flowing rivers of the vast nation. His early work embodied a reductive, minimalist approach that was largely influenced by abstract painting; soon it evolved into detailed and dramatic compositions in a vivid colour palette. Residencies in Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, the Mohave Desert, as well as a fourteen day expedition down the Snake River in the Yukon, all played a role in this new preoccupation with showcasing the Canadian wilderness. Bolt’s portrayal of crashing waves hitting the coast in “High on the Rock #4” exemplifies this more recent shift in painterly approach. The large canvas painted from the perspective of standing on a cliff peering down at the ocean creates a powerful and dramatic effect.