signed lower right; signed, titled and dated 1950 on the reverse
19 × 24.25 in (48.3 × 61.6 cm)
Auction Estimate:$8,000 - $10,000
Sale date:December 6, 2023
Price Realized
$15,600
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Laing Galleries, Toronto
Private Collection, Montreal
Literature
A.K. Prakash, “Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery”, Stuttgart, 2015, pages 621, 632
Soon after Robert Pilot’s return to Canada following World War One, the Montreal painter was invited by A.Y. Jackson to include two of his works in the Group of Seven’s first exhibition in 1920. Following the exhibition, A.K. Prakash explains that Pilot declined “to formalize an association with these artists. Like Cullen, he differed philosophically from the group’s nationalistic approach to art. [Pilot] preferred to paint inhabited places rather than the untamed wilderness, so he differed philosophically from the group’s nationalist approach to art.”
“Winter Break Up, Montreal Harbour” is one of Pilot’s quintessential inhabited scenes of Quebec, depicting Montreal’s active industrial sphere. The warmth and gentle brushstrokes of “Winter Break Up, Montreal Harbour” are synonymous with the celebrated painter’s ability to depict the Quebec landscape with great charm and artistry. The monochromatic palette of pastel greys and mauve speak to Pilot’s influence of the European Impressionists; however, Pilot has applied these methods to a wintry subject that remains quintessentially Canadian.
