Sugar Shanty, L’Islet

Loch Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto

Naomi Jackson Groves, “A.Y.’s Canada”, Toronto/Vancouver, 1968, pages 40 and 44

Likely to have been painted in 1945, Sugar Shanty, L’Islet depicts a maple sugar shack near Jackson’s brother’s farm in Quebec. Jackson visited the area starting in late March of that year, arriving in time to capture this scene while the sugaring season was still active. “Sugar Shanty, L’Islet” has been executed with the hallmarks of A.Y. Jackson’s inhabited landscape, with its tightly clustered structures and pops of colour. The bright blue tin roof contrasts with the newly exposed earth, mirroring the clear sky above. The pine tree tops just behind the farmstead have been executed in a fresh chartreuse, perhaps a sign of changing weather from winter to spring with new foliage coming to life. The bare earth reveals ribbons of layered rust, orange and yellows, in contrast with the long blue shadows of the springtime light. With the chopped logs tightly stacked between trees, the scene showcases the trademarks of the rural life Jackson so loved. Not only are these indicators of labour and life outside of the metropolitan city centres of Canada, but they offered the artist the opportunity to incorporate more complex forms into his work. Jackson could play with the use of Impressionistic colours for light and shadow while capturing the elusive shoulder season between winter and spring. On the reverse of this panel, an accomplished scene of a cliffside lake is present, depicted from a higher perspective. Looking down onto the blue water and receding hills in the background, the viewer is situated at the top of a cliff, surrounded by fresh green foliage, perhaps an indicator of springtime. Jackson’s signature rhythmic paint strokes form the texture of the landscape to accentuate the ruggedness of the locale, as the viewer gazes beyond the cliffs onto the sweeping lake vista.