signed and dated 1963 lower left, signed lower centre; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
16 × 12 in (40.6 × 30.5 cm)
Auction Estimate:$10,000 - $15,000
Sale date:May 30, 2024
Price Realized
$18,000
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
The Hett Gallery Ltd., Edmonton
Sotheby’s Canada, auction, Toronto, 2 June 1999, lot 153
Private Collection, Ontario
Literature
Dennis Reid, "Canadian Jungle: The Later Work of Arthur Lismer", Toronto, 1985, page 11
Arthur Lismer's "British Columbia Forest" is a luscious and intimate painting of the forest interior. The loosely rendered forms are highlighted with linear marks. The painter has used the blunt end of his brush to “draw” into the layers of oil paint.
Executed in 1963, "British Columbia Forest" is painted in the style that Lismer is best known for during the 1940s-60s. On the subject of Arthur Lismer’s late period works, academic Dennis Reid commented: "The painting of the fifties and beyond–a confident and joyful saga of self-exploration and painterly investigation in the expression of intense nature experiences–constitutes a body of work that will someday be recognized as one of the singular accomplishments of Canadian art."
