Algonquin Park, 1943

Gift of the artist and his wife (Christmas 1974) Private Collection, Ontario By descent to the current Private Collection, British Columbia

Paul Duval, A.J. Casson, Toronto, 1975, page 109 Paul Duval, Alfred Joseph Casson, President, Royal Canadian Academy, Toronto, 1951, pages 14, 21 and 26 Margaret Gray, Margaret Rand and Lois Steen, A.J. Casson: Canadian Artists 1, Ontario, 1976, page 49 Ian Thom, Casson's Cassons, Kleinburg, The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1988, pages 5 and 18

During the wartime era of the 1940s, Casson was particularly busy with commercial work as a result of the necessity for print and design works geared towards wartime propaganda and initiatives. Because of this, the artist had limited capability to travel extensively for sketching trips, and thus visited Algonquin Park more often during this period given its close proximity to Toronto. Ian Thom argues that “the nineteen-forties were a fertile period for Casson... many of these works are splendid explorations of light and form.” Rather than present a composition from a high view point looking down to a dramatic vista, Casson has instead taken a lower view point in “Algonquin Park” (1943). The effect gives a monumental feel to the landscape as the viewer looks up to the trees near the edge of a rolling hill. The application of paint is an excellent example of Casson's classic approach to oil painting: “He uses oil almost like watercolours, very thinly. Far from wanting texture now, his flattened planes and two-dimensional effects are achieved with thin applications of pure colour.” The result is an interesting mixture of depth as the layers of pigment converge to one plane, and ethereal lightness with the choice of decidedly lighter colour palettes employed. A young boy growing up in the suburbs of Guelph, Casson “gained a deep instinct for basic values and a solid perspective upon man's relationship to the earth and his God.” Though the argument can be made that Casson's mission was to present the Canadian landscape for pure aesthetic value, one cannot help but make a connection to humanity's place within said landscape and their existential purpose. Casson chooses to reduce and simplify forms and textures within the landscape while maintaining drama and exploring the theme of the endurance of nature over man. Emphasis on crisp form, luminosity and an exploration of light and shadow are integral to this work. The rolling hills, billowing dramatic clouds hanging low in the sky, and rather barren forest culminate to instill a feeling of the sublime in its true sense.