Tom Smart, "Peter Clapham Sheppard: His Life and Work", Richmond Hill, Ontario, 2018, page 58, reproduced page 60
A close associate and friend to members of the Group of Seven, P.C. Sheppard frequently accompanied his fellow painters on sketching expeditions in the city of Toronto. Often likened to the techniques of the Group of Seven, Sheppard was a pioneer in Canadian impressionism, often turning to Toronto's urban and rural landscapes with a particular preoccupation with the human presence within the landscape.
An expert in capturing varied scenes of life and industry in early to mid-century Canada, "Woman in the Garden, The Grange", is a testament to Sheppard’s versatility as an artist. Sheppard's body of work covers a wide range of figural works, portraits, still lifes, landscapes, city and harbour scenes, among other subjects.
"Woman in the Garden, The Grange" was Sheppard's second picture of a woman at rest in her garden. The first, "Woman in a Blue Dress", bears striking similarities in composition to George Agnew Reid's "Reading". Sheppard may have been inspired by the elderly painter, who was his instructor at the Ontario College of Art. "Woman in the Garden, The Grange" is an early picture, which shows a woman reading a book nestled between two branches of a tree. The artist's aptitude at capturing the light filtering across the scene and the rhythmic, expressive brushstrokes point to the artist's fascination with Impressionism.
