Estate of the artist (No. W-127)
Family of the artist
Masters Gallery, Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary
Literature
Megan Bice, Light and Shadow, The Work of Franklin Carmichael, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, pages 48 and 85
Ian M. Thom, Franklin Carmichael Watercolours, exhibition catalogue (introduction), Art Gallery of Victoria, 1981, unpaginated
Joan Murray, Rocks: Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer, and the Group of Seven, Toronto, page 17
From 1926 into the mid-1930s Carmichael produced his most notable watercolours. The artist strongly believed in the independent validity of the medium, and asked high prices for his watercolours in order to reflect their status, which he believed to be equal to oil
painting. Carmichael had founded the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1925, along with A.J. Casson and F.H. Brigden, in an effort to give the medium the importance and recognition it deserved.
During this period, Carmichael’s style had matured and his interpretation of the landscape strengthened. Megan Bice writes, “Carmichael responded to the sensory and emotional aspects of the physical scene before him rather than transforming the landscape
into an expression of a spiritual state.” Moreover, she writes, “The relationship of man to his natural environment was a recurring theme for Carmichael throughout his career... the human presence was never far from his contemplation.” The artist did not simply seek to depict the picturesque, but rather imbue his works with a more complex and contemplative narrative of one’s relation to landscape.
Depicted from a high vantage point, “Lake, La Cloche” bears all the hallmarks of the artist’s iconic rendering of the landscape in watercolour. A dramatic cloudy sky is reflected on the lake surface below, while blustery winds bend the central jack pine at the shoreline. Perched above the lake, the viewer gazes through the jack pine onto the dramatic rolling escarpment of the La Cloche lake. The ribbons of cobalt, emerald, mauves and chartreuses Carmichael applied emphasize the form and movement within the landscape, giving a quiet dynamic element to the work. Carmichael’s confident handling of the watercolour medium gives a clear interpretation of the landscape and instills a feeling of the sublime as the viewer gazes into the uninhabited landscape.
