Port Coldwell, Lake Superior, 1928 by Franklin Carmichael

Provenance:
Ada Carmichael/Estate of the Artist
Laing Galleries, Toronto
Private Collection
Masters Gallery, Calgary
Private Collection, Edmonton

Literature:
Wayne Larsen, "A.Y. Jackson: The Life of a Landscape Painter", Toronto, 2009, page 127
Nicole Marie McKowen, "Transcendental Nature and Canadian National Identity: Franklin Carmichael’s Representation of the Canadian Landscape" (Master of Arts Thesis: Texas Christian University, Fort Worth Texas, 2019), pages 30-31

For two weeks beginning in mid-October 1928, Group of Seven co-founder Franklin Carmichael made his last sketching trip to Port Coldwell, Lake Superior, this time with artists Lawren S. Harris, A.Y. Jackson, and A.J. Casson. He had been there twice before in 1925 with Harris and Jackson, and in 1926 just with Harris. An outback experience to be sure, Casson recalled the journey there with great clarity of mind: “The problem was that heading west the train could not stop in Port Coldwell because there was a steep grade... Lawren Harris negotiated with the conductor, some money exchanged hands, and the train slowed down to twenty-five miles an hour at a spot Lawren had picked out. Our equipment and supplies were thrown out of the baggage car and we jumped after them... Lawren had arranged for some section hands with a jigger to meet us there. We loaded our equipment onto the jigger and were transported four miles further west. We then proceeded about a third of mile [.5 km] into the bush and set up camp.” The artists chose a spot about a half-hour hike from the shores of Lake Superior to serve as their base of operations.

On arrival at their destination, the artists divided their effects into two tents, Carmichael and Casson sharing one, and Jackson and Harris the other, the division of camping arrangements was also a reflection of the friendships and sketching histories between artists. Harris and Jackson had done several trips to Lake Superior together beginning in 1921. And ever since Casson had been hired by Carmichael as his apprentice in 1919 at Rous and Mann Ltd., Carmichael had taken him under his wing as both designer and painter. Under Carmichael’s lead, it would be a serious working trip for Casson, one which he never repeated, not with Carmichael.

As Casson’s drawing of the Casson-Carmichael camp shows (McMichael Canadian Art Collection), their tent was nestled into a small clearing which offered some protection from wind but not from snow. He recalled, “One storm was so bad that, in the middle of the night, we were... awakened to find our tent on the verge of being blown away.” Such cold temperatures precluded the possibility of them working in watercolour since the paint would freeze almost instantly. Thus, both artists worked mainly in graphite and oil; with its viscous base, the oil was stiff but still malleable and less susceptible to freezing. Casson too made drawings in 1928 including one of the "Ice House at Port Coldwell" in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (1966.4.3), and he also produced sketches in oil including one in the Thomson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2017/54).

Carmichael’s oil sketch, "Port Coldwell, Lake Superior", 1928, bears a close compositional relationship to one of his "plein air" drawings, "Pic Island from Mount Premier, Port Coldwell", 1928 (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), from which it appears to have evolved. Carmichael and Casson spent time on both the shores of Lake Superior and also the inland areas where the last of fall colour could be better enjoyed. Carmichael shifted his emphasis on the land rather than the lake in his oil sketch. Compared to his drawing, this gave him opportunity to add more colour to define the hills and rocks. With more land than water, the decision enabled alternating bands of ochres, oranges, browns and purples to give shape to the shoreline hills. Carmichael’s heavy sky with ominous clouds and deep blue water offers a sense of the cold the artists experienced.

"Port Coldwell", the artist’s title inscribed in his hand on the verso, was a ubiquitous one Carmichael used for many of his Lake Superior oil sketches in 1928, including those forming the Port Coldwell Series of four paintings held in the National Gallery of Canada collection (38407-38410). The title also reflected the fact that the artists only worked in the Port Coldwell area in 1928. Compared with the drawing, which notes an actual location, the oil sketches were more focused on the power of nature and were less concerned with topographical reference. As American art historian, Nicole Marie McKowen recently wrote of his Lake Superior work, “Carmichael’s complementary colours, hue variation, undulating lines, vastness of space, implied human experience through the verticality of the trees, and the surrounding effect of the landscape and sky all work together to evoke spiritual contemplation of and communion with nature.”

There is no known exhibition history for this sketch, but it is possible it was included in the Art Gallery of Toronto’s "Little Pictures Exhibition by Members of the Ontario Society of Artists" held in November 1928, just after Carmichael’s return from Lake Superior. That year Carmichael exhibited five sketches, only one of which was titled, and four he reserved from public sale. This was probably because he was considering them for enlargement in the studio, although "Port Coldwell", 1928 is not known to have been developed into a larger painting. Carmichael also exhibited some Lake Superior oil sketches at the annual Canadian National Exhibition but, as there was no Group of Seven exhibition in 1929, the Ontario Society of Artists exhibition would have been one of the few occasions Carmichael showed any of his Lake Superior oil sketches. Afterwards, hardly any of his Lake Superior oil sketches were shown during his lifetime. As a result of such a spartan exhibition history for this body of work, "Port Coldwell", 1928 is a little-known painting, especially too since it has not been included in any of the important exhibitions featuring Carmichael’s life and work, such as his 1990 retrospective.

The ownership history of this sketch would appear to have begun when the artist’s widow, Ada Carmichael, consigned the work to Toronto gallerist Blair Laing who represented Carmichael’s work for a time in the mid-twentieth century. This oil on beaverboard counts as among Carmichael’s finest Lake Superior productions with its well-designed composition, subtle handling of colour, and compelling evocation of the chilly weather he and his protégé experienced in late October 1928. For the next three years, Carmichael continued to develop his Lake Superior works into studio paintings in watercolour and oil, works that are among the most important of his career.

We extend our thanks to Catharine Mastin, independent curator and writer, for contributing the preceding essay.