Lot 147: David Brown Milne 1882 - 1953 Canadian watercolour

David Brown Milne 1882 - 1953 Canadian watercolour on paper Afterglow 11 x 14 1/2 inches 27.9 x 36.8 centimeters on verso inscribed by Douglas Duncan ""Afterglow"" / ""W-651"" / ""(Oct. 1950)"" and by the Duncan estate ""575"" Literature:David P. Silcox, David Milne (1882 - 1953), A Survey Exhibition, Galerie Godard Lefort, 1971, listed, unpaginated Ian M. Thom et al, David Milne, Vancouver Art Gallery and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1991, page 169 David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings Volume 2: 1929 - 1953, 1998, page 921, reproduced page 956, catalogue #502.53 Provenance:Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal The Art Emporium, Vancouver, 1971 Private Collection, Vancouver By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver Exhibited:Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal, David Milne (1882 - 1953), A Survey Exhibition, April 22 - May 15, 1971, catalogue #38 Afterglow was painted while David Milne was at Baptiste Lake, south of Algonquin Park in Ontario. He had chosen a site for a cabin there in 1947, and built it himself, moving in by 1949. Solitude was a balm for Milne, and the new location an inspiration. After a 12-year break from painting watercolours, Milne began again in 1937, and this medium, which is characterized by luminous washes, would dominate the remainder of his career. Milne described his meticulous approach: "The planning has to be done before-hand in great detail; the order in which the colours are to be applied, what brushes are to be fully charged and what with only the slightest amount of paint on them, what effects of the diffusion, spreading and overlapping, due to the wetness of the paper." In Afterglow, Milne characteristically used a few carefully selected colours contrasted against a dark foreground. Bold and atmospheric, featuring a glowing sky and lush green hills tinged with orange and golden yellow from the setting sun, Afterglow is a fine example of Milne's engagement with Baptiste Lake.