Lot 1: SIR FREDERICK GRANT BANTING 1891 - 1941

SIR FREDERICK GRANT BANTING 1891 - 1941 ST. SIMEON INN signed lower right Banting; signed F.G. Banting and inscribed by a previous owner St. Simeon Inn, Painted by Frederick Banting 1930; Given to Marian Patterson by Dr. F.W. Rolph, March 1957 on the reverse oil on panel 21.0 by 26.7 cm. 8 ¼ by 10 ½ in.

Exhibition of Paintings by the Late Sir Frederick Banting, Hart House, University of Toronto, March, 1943

Dr. F.W. Rolph

Mrs. Marian Patterson, gift from the above, 1957

Private Collection, Phoenix, Arizona

In March of 1930, Banting together with his painting companion A.Y. Jackson, spent a three day sojourn in St. Simeon. They had walked the twelve miles from St. Fidèle to paint the picturesque scenery.

This oil sketch is very typical of the Quebec subject matter which delighted and inspired both artists. St. Simeon still was a quaint unspoiled village whose inhabitants drove the old horse-drawn red sleighs in winter. The tall peaked roofs of the houses were further enhanced by the brightly coloured walls of the houses, in this case red, blue and yellow. Nestled in a landscape of rolling hills and winding roads, it was an ideal location for both artists to immortalize just as the early spring thaw was begining.