Nipigon River, 18 miles North of Red Rock by William Armstrong
William Armstrong
Nipigon River, 18 miles North of Red Rock
watercolour
signed and titled along the lower edge
9 x 14.75 ins ( 22.9 x 37.5 cms )
Auction Estimate: $2,500.00 - $3,500.00
Price Realized $3,776.00
Sale date: November 19th 2019
Provenance:
Private Collection, Oakville
Private Collection, Oakville
Literature:
Henry C. Campbell, The Art of William Armstrong: Early Days on the Great Lakes, Toronto/Montreal, 1971, pages 8, 88-89
Henry C. Campbell, The Art of William Armstrong: Early Days on the Great Lakes, Toronto/Montreal, 1971, pages 8, 88-89
William Armstrong first travelled to the Nipigon region in 1867 and 1869 as a member of a government survey party. At the time, only the Hudson’s Bay Company agents who ran trading posts and the local Native Peoples were knowledgeable about traversing the area and its surroundings. “Nipigon River, 18 Miles North of Red Rock” is among a collection of works executed by Armstrong on these trips to better understand the landscape of Canada, which were also the works from which the artist created illustrations for The Canadian Illustrated News in 1870. These illustrations, as well as Armstrong’s drawings and sketches of the Red River Expedition, earned him recognition as an artist and Armstrong was soon made an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy.
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William Armstrong
(1822 - 1914) ARCA
William Armstrong was an artist and a civil engineer in the 1850s, based in Toronto as drawing master at the Toronto Normal School. He regularly exhibited at The Ontario Society of Artists and The Royal Canadian Academy. The artist sold Indian sketches to the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Newcastle. Working as a railway engineer he painted scenes of Manitoulin Indians, Lake Superior, Fort William, Plains and Foothills Indians. A.R.C.A. in 1882. He was one of Canada\'s early explorer artists.
