Tonquin Valley, Jasper , 1924

The Yaneff Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Vancouver

A.Y. Jackson, “A Painter’s Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson”, Toronto, 1958, pages 106-108

In July 1924, four years after the formation of the Group of Seven, Lawren Harris and A.Y. Jackson checked into the Jasper Park Lodge with their sights set on exploring and sketching Jasper National Park. The Park covers a region of more than 10,878 kilometres of terrain. As A.Y. Jackson recounts: “In the summer of 1924 Lawren Harris took his family to Jasper Park and I went along with him, as we planned to do some work for the Canadian National Railway. We did not find the landscape around Jasper Lodges or along the railroad very interesting, and we wanted to get into the big country, so we arranged with the park superintendent, Colonel Rogers, to have our dunnage taken in by the warden’s while we walked in, first to Maligne Lake, and then to the Tonquin.” The pair had a painterly fascination with the scenery they encountered on their hikes, despite the difficult weather of constant rain. The towering features of the Tonquin Valley Ramparts and the wonders of the rugged terrain kept the attention of the artists, with Harris depicting several views of the Tonquin Ramparts. Some sketches, or field studies, were done right on the spot in the mountains. These drawings were central to Harris’s process, capturing elements of the place and recording details regarding colour, light and form – observations to inform his later compositions. According to Jackson: “There was one hill from which the whole way around the horizon could be seen, a grand panorama of mountains and lakes with stretches of forest and Alpine pastures. From this panorama, we planned a scheme of decoration for a Canadian National hotel or station. Harris took one half and I took the other and we made drawings of it by sections all the way round. Later, when we returned to the East, Harris went to see Sir Henry Thornton about our plan. Thornton was much interested in it but his own position with the railroad became precarious soon after, and nothing came of it.” “Tonquin Valley, Jasper” is one of these panorama sketches - one part of a breathtaking view of the Rockies as recorded by two influential Canadian artists. This sketching trip marked Harris’s first experience in the mountains of western Canada, which would captivate his attention for six years. We extend our thanks to Alec Blair, Director & Lead Researcher of the “Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project”, for his assistance in researching this artwork.