Picnic by David Brown Milne

Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 1: 1929-1953, Toronto, 1998, listed and reproduced page 99 (no. 105.11)
Katherine Lochman (ed.), David Milne: Watercolours, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 2005, pages 21, 24, 41 and 44

Living and working in New York in the early twentieth century, David Milne turned toward watercolour as an extension of his practice, finding great success with the medium. He exhibited with the American Watercolour Society and the New York and Pennsylvania Watercolour Clubs and, in 1913, exhibited five works in the Armory Show. Milne was one of three Canadians to exhibit at the prestigious international exhibition of modern art, which predominantly showcased American and European masters.

The New York Times heralded Milne’s works as “conventional subject, unconventional style” and noted that “Mr. Milne has made himself a master of the art of patterning and builds up his blocks of colour as precisely as the modern doctor diagrams your heart...Whatever he may have to say you feel that he makes no mistake in the form of his statement.” Carol Troyen concurs: “Milne used watercolour for many of his greatest innovations. He associated it with directness, clarity, and independent expression—in short, with modernism.”

Milne’s distinct and self-assured approach in watercolour is evident in “Picnic”. Completed “circa” 1913, the work bears the quintessential hallmarks of the artist’s oeuvre, including generous open space, rich opaque strokes of striking cobalt and rust, and a nod to master Modern artists like Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. The catalogue raisonné for Milne notes that this work depicts Patsy, the wife of the artist. Patsy figured prominently in many of Milne’s figurative works - often portrayed in a moment of leisure. Casually seated on the lawn with her companion, Patsy’s fiery red hair is distinctive in “Picnic”. Milne’s use of the exposed support allows the work to breathe organically, mirroring the calm ease of lunching on the grass. Vibrant strokes of sapphire, cerulean, olive and ochre break free of the pencil outlines to add energy to the scene and imbue the work with intention. Milne described his watercolour practice as “so direct, so powerful, even brutal...it should be the painting medium because it is faster, and painting is the instantaneous art.”