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Along the Inland Passage by Doris Jean McCarthy

Artwork by Doris Jean McCarthy, Along the Inland Passage

Doris McCarthy
Along the Inland Passage

oil on canvas
signed lower right; titled and dated “July 16, 1987 (870716) on the reverse
24 x 30 ins ( 61 x 76.2 cms )

Auction Estimate: $40,000.00$30,000.00 - $40,000.00

Price Realized $38,400.00
Sale date: June 15th 2022

Provenance:
Wynick/Tuck Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario
In the words of Doris McCarthy from her autobiography “My Life”, “I was brought up on the nursery rhyme about Monday’s child and Tuesday’s child; as I was Thursday’s child, I took it received for truth that I would have ‘far to go’ and do a lot of traveling”. Throughout McCarthy’s long and storied career, the artist made numerous trips around the world, including a year painting in Europe in 1951, and a solo tour of Asia in 1961. However, McCarthy favoured her paintings of Canada, which became her best-known subject matter. In particular, the Arctic landscapes are considered McCarthy’s most desirable pictures.

Painted the year after McCarthy received the Order of Canada, “Along the Inland Passage” depicts part of a 1,500km long stretch of protected coastline that runs from Skagway, Alaska to the north, through British Columbia and ends in the south in Puget Sound, Washington. McCarthy began her trips to the Arctic in 1972, where she experimented with light, colour and pattern. By 1977 McCarthy was confidently producing large canvases that demonstrated her command of the formal properties of painting. The striking “Along the Inland Passage” epitomizes McCarthy’s expert handling of light as it dances across the water. While mirroring the patterns in the sky, the reflection also describes the turbulence and undercurrents of the ocean.

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Doris Jean McCarthy
(1910 - 2010) RCA, OSA

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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.