PROVENANCE
Richardson Bros. Gallery, Winnipeg
Private Collection, Winnipeg
Private Collection, Ontario
International Fine Arts, Walker’s, June 1, 2011, lot 127, reproduced front cover
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Megan Bice, Light & Shadow: The Work of Franklin Carmichael, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1990, a similar 1939 oil titled Frood Lake discussed pages 64 and 66, listed page 117, and reproduced front cover

Franklin Carmichael and his friend and colleague A.J. Casson provided an important addition to exhibitions of the Group of Seven. Although most members of the Group produced watercolours, for Carmichael and his younger colleague Casson, watercolour was an area of special interest, and both artists exhibited watercolours in Group exhibitions. Carmichael was particularly skilled in building up his watercolours using broad expanses of colour, usually applied in successive layers, allowing the earlier colours to dry. He began works such as Frood Lake with a rough armature of drawn line—note the strong linear pattern that defines the rocks, trees and lake. Carmichael used this linear architecture to organize his use of vivid pigments to depict the landscape itself and the progression into the distance.

Frood Lake is in the heart of the La Cloche region of Ontario. Surrounded by mountains, the lake provided Carmichael with a vivid and compelling subject. We view the scene from a high vantage point and the foreground is only lightly delineated. Carmichael, through his placement of the trees and the distant landforms, draws the viewer’s eye into a compelling and vast distance. The expertly rendered trees in the mid-foreground provide a visual bridge to the majestic landscape beyond.

For the biography on Torben V. Kristiansen in PDF format, please click here.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars