St. Urbain

Private Collection, Toronto

Born into a prominent Napanee family, Kathleen Daly Pepper was afforded the opportunity to study at both the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Art before travelling abroad for post-graduate studies at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére in Paris, France. She later studied at the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York before returning to Canada. After marrying George Pepper in 1929, the couple made the Studio Building their artistic and home base. There, Daly Pepper worked alongside her husband as well as their mutual friend, A.Y. Jackson. In 1933, the Peppers built a log studio in Charlevoix County in the village of Saint-Urbain where they would host a number of visiting artists. This charming landscape is a lovely token of the artist’s time at their country studio. Often concerned with the socio-economic conditions of Canada, Daly Pepper did not just depict the picturesque, but also sought to capture the everyday conditions of life within her work. On the reverse of this artwork, the artist has made notes on the good condition of the crops, no doubt good news to the landowner. The exaggerated forms and jewel-toned pigments form a celebration of the land, presenting a warm and abundant landscape.