Twigs in Winter, 1937 by David Brown Milne

David Milne
Twigs in Winter, 1937
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1937 upper right; catalogue raisonné no. 305.6
12.25 x 14.5 in ( 31.1 x 36.8 cm )
Auction Estimate: $30,000.00 - $50,000.00
Price Realized $31,200.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024
Estate of the Artist
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Heffel, auction, Toronto, 23 November 2016, lot 150
Private Collection, Toronto
"David Milne: City Streets and Northern Scenes", Mira Godard Gallery, Calgary, April 1981, no. 11
"David Milne, 1882-1953: ‘Bright Garden’," Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, 18 October-5 November 1986
"Fifty Years of Canadian Landscape Painting", Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, 3 April-2 May 1987
"David Milne: City Streets and Northern Scenes", Calgary, 1981, no. 11
Christopher Hume, 'Paintings of Genius', "Toronto Star", 31 October 1986, D13
Karen Wilkin, "David Milne, 1882-1953: ‘Bright Garden’," Toronto, 1986, reproduced page 17
Karen Wilkin, "Fifty Years of Canadian Landscape Painting", New York, 1987, page 26
David Silcox, "Painting Place: The Life and Work of David B. Milne", Toronto, 1996, page 1
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, "David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 2: 1929-1953", 1998, reproduced page 634, no. 305.6
"Twigs in Winter" was completed towards the end of this period in 1937 and illustrates the artist’s unique approach to colour and composition during the 1930s. This delightful scene suggests an early-winter day as indicated by the snow-encrusted twigs which are tipped with flowers beneath a lightly clouded blue sky. Milne’s intention was not to simply record a detailed representation of the land or a specific object but to transform his impression of nature into aesthetic emotion, which he conveyed through colour, texture and design. Milne observed that: “The painter gets an impression from some phase of nature … he simplifies and eliminates until he knows exactly what stirred him, sets this down in colour and line and so translates his impression into aesthetic emotion.” The artist often employed a sparse and reduced palette that included the use of whites, greys and blacks to create an area of strong contrast known as a “dazzle spot.” Authors Milroy and Dejardin describe Milne’s so-called dazzle spot as being designed to direct the viewers’ eye toward the essence of a painting. Though directly influenced by the well-known French Impressionists Claude Monet and Henri Matisse, Milne’s unique ability to capture the essence of his subject, rather than its details, made him distinct.
During the 1930s, Milne’s art would flourish under the patronage of Alice and Vincent Massey, whose association with the Canadian art dealer Douglas Duncan propelled the artist into a broader community of influential writers, critics and collectors. This association marked the beginning of a long-term friendship and by 1938, Duncan became the exclusive representative of Milne’s work. From Six Mile Lake, paintings were sent to exhibitions in Toronto, Ottawa, Chicago, New York and the Tate Gallery in London, England. The artist’s Six Mile Lake period lasted from 1933 to 1939 and encapsulates the inventiveness and clarity of vision that are hallmarks of the artist’s oeuvre.
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David Brown Milne
(1882 - 1953) Canadian Group of Painters
Milne was born near Paisley, Ontario. A childhood interest in art, which revived while he was teaching, led him to take a correspondence course and eventually he travelled to New York City to continue his studies. This was somewhat of an exception in the early twentieth-century Canadian art scene as the majority of artists went to Europe to study. While in New York City, Milne worked as a commercial illustrator for several years before deciding to give up this work and devote his time to painting. Shortly after making this decision he moved to Boston Corners in New York.
Throughout his life Milne sought the peace and solitude of a rural life. In his paintings, Milne explored different viewpoints. He greatly admired the work of Tom Thomson but had little interest in the nationalistic approach of the Group of Seven. His themes range from landscapes to views of towns and cities, still lifes and imaginary subjects. His experiments with different media and changing viewpoints show his interest in the process of painting itself. In 1929, Milne returned to settle permanently in Canada, stopping for brief periods in Temagami, Weston, and Palgrave. He built a secluded cabin at Six Mile Lake, north of Orillia, and spent the next six years painting, for the most part, alone. Milne was interested in 'pure' painting, in "adventures in shape, colour, texture and space" as he called his watercolours of the 1930s and 1940s. The change from the less vibrant drybrush "adventures" to the fantasy watercolours is often attributed to the birth of his only child, David Jr., born to Milne's second wife when Milne was sixty. His young son encouraged him to adopt a new, vibrant and often whimsical approach to his art. Milne spent the rest of his life in Uxbridge, north of Toronto, exploring the Haliburton and Bancroft areas as well as the city of Toronto.