Artwork by Doris Jean McCarthy,  From Whistler Parking Lot

Doris McCarthy
From Whistler Parking Lot

watercolour
signed lower right; partial, signed Rockies landscape, titled and dated “970604” (June 4, 1997) on the reverse
15 x 22.5 ins ( 38.1 x 57.2 cms ) ( sheet )

Auction Estimate: $3,000.00$2,000.00 - $3,000.00

Price Realized $3,360.00
Sale date: December 3rd 2020

Provenance:
Mountain Galleries at Fairmount, Banff
Private Collection, Ontario
The reverse side of this artwork presents half of another Rockies landscape, signed by McCarthy and executed during the summer of 1987. It is believed that the artist decided against showing the large-format watercolour, scored the sheet, cut it in half and painted “From Whistler Parking Lot” on the opposite side. Doris McCarthy’s date code for the larger landscape is found in the far margin of the later composition (beneath the matting, when framed).

We extend our thanks to Wendy Wacko for providing details related to this artwork.

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Doris Jean McCarthy
(1910 - 2010) RCA, OSA

Born in Calgary, Alberta, McCarthy attended the Ontario College of Art from 1926–1930 where she was awarded various scholarships and prizes. She became a teacher shortly thereafter and taught most frequently at Central Technical School in downtown Toronto from 1932 until she retired in 1972. She spent most of her life living and working in Scarborough, Ontario though she travelled abroad extensively and painted the landscapes of various countries including: Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, Japan, India, England and Ireland. McCarthy was probably best-known for her Canadian landscapes and her depictions of Arctic icebergs.

McCarthy's work has been exhibited and collected extensively in Canada and abroad, in both public and private art galleries including: The National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, and The Doris McCarthy Art Gallery. McCarthy also penned three autobiographies chronicling the various stages of her life: A Fool in Paradise (Toronto: MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1990), The Good Wine (Toronto: MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1991), and Ninety Years Wise (Toronto: Second Story Press, 2004). She was also the recipient of the Order of Ontario, the Order of Canada; honorary degrees from the University of Calgary, the University of Toronto, Trent University, the University of Alberta, and Nipissing University; and an honorary fellowship from the Ontario College of Art and Design. She died on November 25, 2010.