Paul Duval, Canadian Impressionism, Toronto, 1990, page 72
A.K. Prakash, Impressionism in Canada, A Journey of Rediscovery, Toronto/Stuttgart, 2015, page 534
Over a career that spanned more than half a century, William Henry Clapp remained committed to the artistic goals of Impressionism. A.K. Prakash writes that Clapp’s canvases show “a virtuoso handling of paint…. The overall result is a gentle, sometimes misty, Impressionist vision drawn directly from his own experience.” Clapp’s affinity for painting en plein air and his sensitivity to the interplay of light and colour informed countless depictions of natural and built environments, making the dreamlike subject matter of “The Artist and His Model” all the more unique within the artist’s oeuvre.
Inserting himself within an established aesthetic tradition of artists painting themselves in the act of artistic creation, Clapp imagines the moment at which his model begins to come alive. Shrouding his silent muse in ethereal mauve hues, the Pygmalion figure of the artist exists in a disparate psychic dimension, signified by the bright patch of yellow paint bisecting the composition. An area of encroaching pigment on the model’s knees heralds the imminent collapse of the divide between creator and subject.
