Lost Channel by Edward John Bartram

Provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Collection of the artist
Acquired directly from the artist
Private Collection, Ontario

Ed Bartram’s love of the Canadian landscape was formed in childhood during summers spent at Camp Hurontario, a boys summer camp located on the shores of Georgian Bay. Bartram spent many happy summers at this camp, transitioning from camper to camp counselor, teaching art and leading canoe trips. It was during these formative years exploring Georgian Bay that Bartram’s appreciation for the rock formations and rugged landscape of the shores and waterways was solidified.

In 1965, Bartram took a post as a high school art teacher and purchased a four-hectare island in Georgian Bay. He had explored this particular island as a boy, and it was here that Bartram built a cottage and studio. Bartram Island Studio became the artist’s summer retreat, his art inspired by the striking surroundings. “Lost Channel” is a vivid depiction of the patterns, textures and lichen of the “rockscape” of Georgian Bay. Bartram’s intimate portrayal of the rock surface - a testament to the Canadian Shield - captures the true essence of the Canadian landscape. “My work interprets the forces of nature as revealed on these Precambrian surfaces, made visible by the cleansing and polishing power of ice and water.” – Ed Bartram