Lot 109: William Percival (W.P.) Weston 1879 - 1967

William Percival (W.P.) Weston 1879 - 1967 Canadian oil on canvas The Cliff Road 36 x 30 inches 91.4 x 76.2 centimeters signed and on verso signed and titled Literature:Ian M. Thom, W.P. Weston, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1980, page 12, similar 1934 canvas entitled Whytecliffe reproduced, unpaginated, catalogue #20 Provenance:A gift from the Artist to Donald Cromie, Vancouver Private Collection, Vancouver By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver This transcendent view over rocky cliffs is a perspective from Whytecliffe in West Vancouver, overlooking Howe Sound. W.P. Weston traces wind and wave patterns in the turquoise ocean, contrasting their fluid rhythms against the stalwart rock formations. This composition is reminiscent of compositions such as Tom Thomson's The West Wind, where a wind-swept pine tree stands as a witness to the action of the elements. There is something heroic about the tree standing alone, having withstood the onslaught of nature, where others have not. Characteristic of Weston's best works, The Cliff Road has a clarity of atmosphere, a contemplative mood, brilliant colour and a dramatic composition. Weston's vision has contributed to our perception of the West Coast's wild landscape. Artists were often overwhelmed by its scale, but Weston was undaunted, revealing, "I painted some pretty wild things, but always I came a little closer to my own language of form and expression of my own feeling for this coast region; its epic quality, its grandeur, its natural beauty." Consequently, Weston painted some of our most iconic images of the West Coast.