Charles Fraser Comfort
Charles Fraser Comfort
1900 - 1994
CGP CSGA CSPWC FRSA MSA OSA PRCA
Charles Fraser Comfort was born in 1900 in Edinburgh, Scotland and became known as a portraitist, muralist, watercolourist, and landscape painter. He immigrated to Canada in 1912, settling in Winnipeg, where he attended the Winnipeg School of Art and subsequently worked as a commercial artist for Brigden's Limited, an engraving firm. His first exhibitions were in 1922, including a two-man show at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Additionally, he studied at the Art Students' League in New York in 1922 and 1923. In 1925 he moved to Toronto, and that same year his first large canvas, Prairie Road, was exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists' show and was acquired by Hart House, University of Toronto.

Toronto's North American Life Building commissioned him to paint a mural in 1932; it was the first of many mural commissions he received throughout his career. In 1936 he took a studio next to that of Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson in the famed Studio Building, which led to the pair taking painting trips together. From 1935 to 1938, Comfort taught at the Ontario College of Art, and in 1938 he joined the teaching staff at the University of Toronto, where he remained for 25 years.

He became an official war artist from 1943 to 1946, and produced approximately 200 sketches and a number of large canvases, many of which are in the collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. He later wrote about his war-time experiences in his book Artist at War, and played a significant role in Canada's War Art Program.

Comfort was a founding member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, the Canadian Society of Graphic Art, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour and the Canadian Group of Painters. He was Director of the National Gallery of Canada from 1960 to 1965 and President of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts from 1957 to 1960. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1972. Comfort died in 1994.
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Hope Island Light, Lake Huron by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $20,700
Charles Fraser Comfort
Hope Island Light, Lake Huron
40 x 48 in, 101.6 x 121.9 cm
circa 1953
oil on canvas
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $20,700 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art Fall 2005 on Thursday, November 24, 2005
House in Wheat Field by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $18,750
Charles Fraser Comfort
House in Wheat Field
10 x 12 in, 25.4 x 30.5 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000 CDN
Sold for: $18,750 CDN (premium included)
Treasures from the Family of Lawren S. Harris on Thursday, November 25, 2021
North Point, Midway Island, Georgian Bay by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $13,750
Charles Fraser Comfort
North Point, Midway Island, Georgian Bay
12 x 16 in, 30.5 x 40.6 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000 CDN
Sold for: $13,750 CDN (premium included)
Town & Country on Thursday, September 29, 2022
Balsam Fir (Abies Balsamea) by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $13,750
Charles Fraser Comfort
Balsam Fir (Abies Balsamea)
30 x 40 1/4 in, 76.2 x 102.2 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000 CDN
Sold for: $13,750 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art on Thursday, November 30, 2023
House at Gifford by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $12,980
Charles Fraser Comfort
House at Gifford
10 x 12 in, 25.4 x 30.5 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $3,500 - $4,500 CDN
Sold for: $12,980 CDN (premium included)
May 2015 - 5th Session on Saturday, May 30, 2015
Tropical Storm
Charles Fraser Comfort
Tropical Storm "Blanche"
36 x 48 in, 91.4 x 121.9 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CDN
Sold for: $10,000 CDN (premium included)
Post-War & Contemporary Works from the Estate of Mary and Harry Klonoff on Thursday, November 25, 2021
Rocky Belvedere, Georgian Bay by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $8,260
Charles Fraser Comfort
Rocky Belvedere, Georgian Bay
20 x 26 in, 50.8 x 66 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CDN
Sold for: $8,260 CDN (premium included)
November 2015 - 5th Session on Saturday, November 28, 2015
Northern Sunset by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $7,605
Charles Fraser Comfort
Northern Sunset
24 x 32 in, 61 x 81.3 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $8,000 - $10,000 CDN
Sold for: $7,605 CDN (premium included)
May 2010 - 3rd Session on Saturday, May 29, 2010
House at Gifford, P.Q. by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $7,500
Charles Fraser Comfort
House at Gifford, P.Q.
10 x 12 in, 25.4 x 30.5 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CDN
Sold for: $7,500 CDN (premium included)
Town & Country on Thursday, November 25, 2021
Toward Westwind by Charles Fraser Comfort sold for $7,020
Charles Fraser Comfort
Toward Westwind
12 x 16 in, 30.5 x 40.6 cm
oil on board
Estimate: $6,000 - $7,000 CDN
Sold for: $7,020 CDN (premium included)
November 2009 - 4th Session on Saturday, November 28, 2009