Lot 161: David Brown Milne 1882 - 1953 Canadian oil on

David Brown Milne 1882 - 1953 Canadian oil on canvas Wooded Valley 12 x 16 inches 30.5 x 40.6 centimeters signed and on verso titled on the Laing Gallery label and inscribed ""no. 76"" in graphite by Vincent Massey Literature:David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings Volume 2: 1929 - 1953, 1998, reproduced page 499, catalogue #302.24 Provenance:Milne sale to Vincent Massey, 1934 Laing Galleries, Toronto, 1958 Collection of C. Stewart, Toronto, 1958 The Framing Gallery, Toronto, circa 1970 Private Collection, Toronto By descent to the present Private Collection In 1943, David Milne wrote to Alice and Vincent Massey, who were known for their patronage of the arts and who already owned one of his paintings. Milne proposed to sell them some 300 pieces of art as a collection, in order to keep the works together. The Masseys accepted, but then began a program of disseminating the work through galleries and as gifts and donations, as well as initiating exhibitions. While Milne objected to the break-up of the collection, the Massey's efforts, in the long term, resulted in greater exposure and increased appreciation for Milne's art. Wooded Valley is a characteristically spare Milne oil, painted with black as the defining, outlining colour, accented and enlivened by green, purple, red and brown plus white. It depicts the woodlands near Palgrave, within walking distance of where Milne was living at the time. Milne's controlled palette is used with masterful dexterity in this serene work, where the blank sky, something he explored fully at Palgrave, allows the focus to rest almost fully on the forest.