Lot 183: Donald M. Flather 1903 - 1990 Canadian oil on

Donald M. Flather 1903 - 1990 Canadian oil on board The Green Growler of Pond Inlet 35 3/4 x 48 1/2 inches 90.8 x 123.2 centimeters signed and dated 1981 and on verso signed, titled and dated Provenance:Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 10, 2000, lot 182 Private Collection, USA Inscribed on verso by the artist: "This iceberg entered Pond Inlet from Greenland three years before, and much larger than at present. The character of its ice revealed its birthplace. It moved around Pond Inlet under the caprice of winds and tides. In its appearance here it had been grounded for over three years. The sunshine had reduced its above-water volume. The cold water did not affect the submerged part much. It was about one mile west of the Shaw boat-launching beach and about 800 yards offshore to the north. A weighted depth line indicated 195 feet of water. The launching beach is another mile west of the centre of Pond Inlet village. A good truck road connects the two places. The iron-brown hills to the north form the south shore of Bylot Island with three large glaciers reaching tide-water. Bylot was Baffin's excellent navigator." The term "growler" refers to a piece of glacier ice, often transparent, appearing green or almost black. This glacier is an extraordinary sculpted shape, resembling an Arctic cathedral, a remarkable subject for this exceptional painting by Donald Flather.