Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton (Hills, Haliburton), 1933 by Carl Fellman Schaefer
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Carl Schaefer
Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton (Hills, Haliburton), 1933
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1933 lower left; signed with artist's Toronto address with extensive inscriptions on the stretcher, including the original title,
“Hills, Haliburton”
32.25 x 37.25 in ( 81.9 x 94.6 cm )
Auction Estimate: $30,000.00 - $50,000.00
Collection of the Artist
L. Bruce Pierce Collection (no. 234)
Private Collection, Ontario
"Exhibition of Canadian Group of Painters", Art Gallery of Toronto, November 1933, no. 113 as "Hills, Haliburton"
"Carl Schaefer Retrospective Exhibition, 1926-1969", Sir George Williams University, Montreal; travelling to the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Queen’s University, Kingston; the Art Gallery of Hamilton; the London Public Library and Art Museum; the Art Gallery of Windsor, 30 November 1969-30 May 1970, no. 7
"Permeable Border, Art of Canada and United States 1920-1940", Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 28 October 1989-7 January 1990, no. 6 as "Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton"
Christine Boyanoski, "Permeable Border, Art of Canada and the United States 1920-1940", Toronto, 1989, unpaginated, no. 6, reproduced
In the 1930s there was little money and Schaefer found it hard to make ends meet. He was forced by the Depression to re-establish himself and his family at Hanover, where he took up watercolour painting. Schaefer appreciated the landscape of his hometown and that led to him becoming a landscape artist, he found the countryside around his birthplace particularly inspiring, especially during the lean years of the 1930s. During this time, the artist chose to concentrate on agrarian and social themes, rather than the forest and wilderness.
The extensive notes found on the stretcher of this artwork provide a colourful history for the canvas. The artist notes that he was an "invited contributor" to the Canadian Group of Painter's first exhibition in 1933 at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Schaefer notes that the artwork's original title, Hills, Haliburton was used for this inaugural showing and he also inscribed his updated title, Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton, indicating the added detail was implemented in October 1961. An important canvas from a celebrated career, Carl Schaefer's inscriptions on the reverse provide an expanded opportunity to appreciate the beauty we find on the face of the canvas.
His early work, such as the large 1933 oil painting “Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton”, is characterized by a geometric and decorative painterly approach. Here, Schaefer presents a serene, stylized landscape dominated by autumn-coloured trees and soft mountains in the background. The dark, nearly silhouette-like shape of a building or barn stands at the centre, lending a focal point to the composition. The ground in the foreground is divided into sections, with plowed fields and grassy paths adding texture and depth. The sky is moody, with dark, brooding clouds that might suggest an impending storm or a sunset casting dramatic shadows. The composition is simplified and geometric, with clean shapes and smooth transitions between colours, giving the landscape a timeless, peaceful quality.
The extensive notes found on the stretcher of this artwork provide a colour history for the canvas. The artist notes that he was an "invited contributor" to the Canadian Group of Painter's first exhibition in 1933 at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Schaefer notes that the artwork's original title "Hills, Haliburton" was used for this inaugural showing and he also inscribes his updated title, "Near Cranberry Lake, Haliburton", indicating the added detail was implemented in October 1961. An important canvas from a celebrated career, Carl Schaefer's inscriptions on the reverse provide an expanded opportunity to appreciate the beauty we find on the face of the canvas.
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Carl Fellman Schaefer
(1903 - 1995) Canadian Group of Painters, RCA
Artist and teacher, Carl Fellman Schaefer, was born in Hanover in 1903. A vigorous yet sensitive interpreter of rural southern Ontario scenery, Schaefer chose to concentrate on agrarian and social rather than wilderness themes during the 1930s. His best work was inspired by the farm environment of his native Grey County. He studied at the Ontario College of Art (1921-24), where his teachers included Arthur Lismer and J.E.H. MacDonald. His introduction to northern Ontario came in 1926 with a canoe trip to the Pickerel and French rivers, but he was forced by the Depression to re-establish himself and his family at Hanover, where he took up watercolour painting.His first "Hanover period" was marked by a transition from a decorative and geometric to a starkly realistic, occasionally allegorical approach to landscape and still life. His experience as an official war artist with the RCAF darkened his vision, but by the 1950s he was again painting in a broad, lyrical spirit in the countryside around Hanover and in neighbouring Wellington and Waterloo counties. Schaefer began teaching in 1930 and taught at Ontario College of Art from 1948 to 1970. Three major Schaefer exhibitions were mounted and circulated during the artist's lifetime: by the McCord Museum, Montreal, in 1967; by the Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, Oshawa, Ont, in 1976; and by the Edmonton Art Gallery in 1980. His paintings in the show "Canadian Landscape" toured European galleries (1983-85).
Ref: The Canadian Encyclopedia.com