Stumps in the Swamp (recto); Hillside Near Palgrave (verso), circa 1932 by David Brown Milne

Provenance:
Acquired directly from the Artist by Vincent Massey, 1934
Laing Galleries, Toronto, 1958
Private Collection, Coral Gables, Florida, 24 December 1963
By descent to a Private Collection, England
Heffel, auction, Toronto, 22 November 2017, lot 117
Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:
David P. Silcox, "Painting Place: The Life and Work of David Milne", Toronto, 1996, page 240
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, "David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 2: 1929-1953", Toronto, 1998, reproduced page 552, "Stumps in the Swamp", no. 302.175 and reproduced page 561, "Hillside Near Palgrave", no. 302.197

David and Patsy Milne returned permanently to Canada in 1929, and settled in Palgrave—in the Caledon Hills north of Toronto—from the United States in the spring of 1930. An artist who constantly worked out of doors, Milne was attracted to the calm, agrarian landscapes he had also portrayed over his many years living in upper New York State. The Palgrave paintings of 1930-1933 are among Milne’s most accomplished and valued, yet their unique appearance is more than a style: it reflects how hard the Great Depression hit the Milnes. Though he exhibited widely at this time, beyond the patronage of the Massey family, sales were meagre. David Milne worked as a farm labourer in return for firewood, for example, and struggled to buy art materials.

Characteristically frank and insightful about the connections between his manner of painting and his life circumstances, Milne explained in a letter from this time: “The reason for this way of putting on the paint is a feeling for economy–of aesthetic means ... a hankering to do things by the slightest touch on the canvas, the brush meeting it and no more ... Some feeling of economy prevents me from varying hues in the same picture (by adding white or less white). This is so strong that I sacrifice economy of touch ... to economy of value in the hues. These things are slight when put in words but they are very strong and control you pretty completely.”

In this scene, Milne depicts a forest landscape in his distinctly expressive visual language. The composition shows a stand of tall, slender trees—many of them bare—with one striking central tree leaning dramatically to the left. The brushstrokes are loose but deliberate, giving the trunks and branches an almost calligraphic quality. The swamp in the foreground is rendered in deep blacks with touches of purple and blue, suggesting reflections and submerged growth. The bottom right shows a small burst of foliage in purple tones, and there is a single green conifer to the upper right that contrasts with the otherwise autumnal or wintery tones. The palette is reduced and selective—Milne often used colour sparingly and expressively. Earthy browns, greens, purples, and black dominate the composition, and are used on the landscape depicted on the reverse of the support.