Building, Street Scene, New York, circa 1940

Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal Private Collection, Toronto

At a time when landscape painting dominated the taste of collectors and the discourse of academics, Pegi Nicol MacLeod contributed works filled with dynamic energy in her urban landscapes and depictions of daily city life. Living in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Fredericton and New York City, the excitement of the city had a profound impact on the artist’s inspiration and artistic approach. This work captures the character and liveliness of the urban tenement with residents calling up to one another out of their windows and workers below milling in every direction. The eye darts over the composition, mimicking the movement in the scene. The artist has executed the scene with a favoured bright primary palette giving energy to the figures. Fluid lines exaggerate rounded forms, giving a lyrical movement to the work. The artist was fascinated by her urban surroundings with the world teeming around her and sought to capture the collective spirit of the communities she was a part of. This artwork is accompanied by a certification signed by the Jane MacLeod Pappidas, daughter of the artist and executor of her mother’s estate.