Galerie d’art Michel Bigue, Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts
Canadian Fine Arts, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature
Evelyn Walters, The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters, Toronto, 2005, pages 107 and 110
Anne Savage captured rural township landscapes, farm life and cozy interiors inspired by her family’s Dorval family home, their cottage at Lake Wonish and summer vacations in the Eastern Townships. While the artist’s early work primarily focused on soft harmonizing tones, Savage also played with bright colour palettes vibrant with energy and movement.
“At the Spinning Wheel” depicts the intimate home setting while incorporating the elements of landscape, interior and figural painting. In a modern exploration of the grid, Savage has used the formal qualities of line to create grid-like patterning with strong staccato vertical and horizontal lines within the image. From the window panes, the patterned carpet covering the floor, the stacked row of books lining the mantel and the square tapestry hanging below, the artist created a very geometrically segregated interior space with striking contrast with the fluid rounded forms of the spinning wheel and background tapestry landscape. Art critic Robert Ayre wrote: “There is never any fussiness of detail. If she puts a plough into a landscape or a wheelbarrow it looks like a workable implement as well as a substantial part of the design.” The spinning wheel has been used as a strategic design element, anchoring the composition both in contrasting form and colour with the fiery orange colour contributing to the warmth of the composition.
