Lot 130: James Wilson Morrice 1865 - 1924 Canadian oil on panel Boats in the Harbour

James Wilson Morrice 1865 - 1924 Canadian oil on panel Boats in the Harbour
6 x 5 inches 15.2 x 12.7 centimeters signed and on verso titled on the Dominion Gallery label, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #B4216 and stamped Studio J.W. Morrice and with the Dominion Gallery stamp
Provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
Dominion Gallery, Montreal, January 29, 1970
Collection of Mrs. François Dupré, March 12, 1970 James Wilson Morrice was Canada's master Impressionist. He spent most of his life abroad, principally in France, receiving a great deal of international exposure for his work. He participated in more than 140 exhibitions between 1888 and 1923, including the Salon d'Automne in 1905. Based in Paris, he painted its street scenes, also traveling to seaside towns in Brittany and the south, capturing the essence of a period dominated by the Impressionists' perceptions of light and colour. Part of Paris's artistic and intellectual milieu, he knew Somerset Maugham (who based his poet Cronshaw in Of Human Bondage on Morrice), and painted with Henri Matisse after meeting him in 1908.
In 1896 Morrice began to use small wood panels of these dimensions for his oil sketches or pochades, painted en plein air, such as in this richly pigmented work. Renowned for his sensitivity to atmosphere, here Morrice captured the brilliant light of the sunwashed harbour, defining form and reflection with assured brush-strokes.
We thank Lucie Dorais for her assistance in researching this lot. Dorais is currently compiling a catalogue raisonné on the work of James Wilson Morrice.