signed lower right; signed, titled, dated September 1978 and inscribed "Fairmount" on the reverse
12 × 15 in (30.5 × 38.1 cm)
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Jackson's Point, Ontario
Paul Duval, A.J. Casson, Toronto, 1951, unpaginated
In its looming and heavy sky, Storm Breaking exudes the feeling of the last moments of calm in anticipation of an impending storm. Speaking to Casson's moody village compositions, Paul Duval notes that, “even when no figures ornament their architecture, this Canadian artist's townscapes are pregnant with mood. Like the contemporary American realist, Edward Hopper, he has the ability to crystallize a moment, to make concrete and eternal the passing vision. It is as though the time-machine has suddenly ceased to function, in a world where the wind had stopped breathing and the shadows no longer moved and every blade of glass and cloud were fixed forever.”
Storm Breaking was painted in 1978, when Casson was increasingly receiving recognition for his work. A major solo retrospective was held at the Art Gallery of Windsor from 14 May to 9 July 1978, before travelling to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto from July 22 to August 27. The exhibition traced his development through paintings and watercolours. Despite the attention, Casson remained actively engaged in painting the Ontario landscape. He continued to explore rural communities, farms, forests and lakes—the subjects that had defined his career. He was then appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979.
