signed lower left; titled on a label on the reverse
10.5 × 13.75 in (26.7 × 34.9 cm)
Laing Fine Art Galleries, Toronto
Westbridge, auction, Vancouver, 26 September 2010, lot 74
Private Collection, Jackson's Point, Ontario
Algonquin Park demonstrates the lighter, more decorative palette that characterized J.W. Beatty’s work in later years, likely influenced by his many sketching trips with Tom Thomson, J.E.H. MacDonald, and A.Y. Jackson. Between 1906 and 1909, Beatty travelled throughout Europe, where he temporarily adopted the darker tonalities of the French and Dutch traditions he had studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. Upon returning to Toronto, however, Canadian subjects became central to his practice, reflecting his desire to create a distinctly national art. A forerunner to the Group of Seven, Beatty expresses in this oil sketch the pride he took in depicting the Canadian landscape.
In this oil painting, a tranquil autumn scene unfolds along the shore of a lake in Algonquin Park. A band of brilliant fall foliage stretches across the horizon, punctuated by the dark silhouettes of evergreens, while a muted sky and restrained palette lend the work a peaceful, atmospheric quality.
