Lot 140: Anne Douglas Savage 1896 - 1971 Canadian oil on board Dr. Wright's House

Anne Douglas Savage 1896 - 1971 Canadian oil on board Dr. Wright's House
12 x 14 inches 30.5 x 35.6 centimeters Literature:Mary MacDonald Trudel, editor, Chantal Généreux, translator, Le groupe Beaver Hall Group, 2007, reproduced page 34
Provenance:A gift from the Artist to Dr. H.P. Wright, Quebec
By descent to the present Private Collection, Quebec Exhibited:Bishop's University, Knowlton, Beaver Hall Group, April 2007, catalogue #29, traveling to Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, reproduced page 34 Anne Savage was a founding member of the Beaver Hall Group in Montreal, formed in 1920. A descendant of Sir Alexander Galt, a Father of Confederation, Savage took pride in Canada's history and the beauty of its land. She was close to Group of Seven member A.Y. Jackson, and shared some of the Group's ideals, principally the desire to paint to express the essence of the country, rather than only as a personal evolution. While certainly the Group influenced her work, her style was her own.
Savage grew up on a farm near Dorval and spent summers at Lake Wonish in the Laurentians. She built a studio there in 1933, and her landscape subjects were drawn from the Laurentians and Eastern Townships. Dr. H.P. Wright, a leading Montreal authority on rheumatism and arthritis, was her neighbour in the countryside, and both this work and lot XXX were given to him as a gift. This outstanding painting exhibits Savage's finest qualities - her handling of clear, radiant light, strong definition of form with vigorous brush-strokes and warmth of feeling for her subject.