Christopher Varley, F.H. Varley, A Centennial Exhibition, The Edmonton Art Gallery, 1981, page 74
Peter Varley, Varley, Toronto, 1983, reproduced page 83
“Spring Meadow, Don Valley” is a masterful landscape painting produced during Frederick Varley’s time spent in the Toronto area during the early 1920s. Varley’s reputation was established nationally as he exhibited with fellow members of the Group of Seven at this time.
Discussing the painter’s work in Toronto, Peter Varley notes that following Varley’s move to Thornhill, his weekend painting trips to Toronto “revitalized his interest in painting, particularly in oil, which allowed more freedom than did watercolours in searching out
a landscape’s rhythms and compositional structures.” Referencing “Spring Meadow, Don Valley”, the author observes that the “rise and fall of vertical tree forms plays against horizontal clouds and the cart track. The textural notes of spring growth in the foreground are early, if not entirely successful, indications of some of his later techniques and perceptions.”
Varley’s depiction of a picturesque locale in the heart of Toronto exemplifies his rich handling of the medium. The artist’s stylized landscape underscores his skill in translating the very essence of the subject through a warm and subtle palette.
