Red Pool, 1996

Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto Private Collection, Toronto

Matthew Hart, Personal Universe: the Landscape Painting of John Hartman in “Big North: The Paintings of John Hartman”, Toronto, 1999, page 95

Eschewing the overtly conceptual art so prevalent during his formative years, Midland-born painter John Hartman engages directly with the iconic landscape of his home. “Red Pool” confronts the viewer with vigorous paint handling and a wildly expressionistic palette. Depicted with loose, immediate brushstrokes, the wind swept white pines and pink granite rocks of Georgian Bay remain recognizable here. The rounded horizon and wide horizontal format create the impression of a dizzyingly high vantage point. Though often executed rapidly, Hartman’s paintings begin with a long period of preparation. Filling sketchbooks with drawings, notes and local histories, Hartman gathers varied material as a foundation for his works. As Matthew Hart writes, “Hartman spends months going over whatever may bare on a scene he likes, until he’s certain he recalls it, and it occupies his mind, complete with its own light and sky, and with a store of anecdote and drama, so that the painter feels the wind of particularity blowing on his cheek. Then he seizes a one-inch brush and begins.” With a deeply personal take on an oft-depicted setting, Hartman brings fresh vitality to the deeply-rooted tradition of Canadian landscape painting.