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LOT 144

CSPWC G7 OSA RCA
1890 - 1945
Canadian

Morning Light
oil on board
signed and dated 1922 and on verso signed, titled and inscribed variously
9 7/8 x 11 3/4 in, 25.1 x 29.8 cm

Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CAD

Sold for: $52,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ontario

LITERATURE
Catharine M. Mastin, Portrait of a Spiritualist: Franklin Carmichael and the National Gallery of Canada Collection, National Gallery of Canada, 2001, unpaginated

EXHIBITED
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton Collects, January 25 - February 25, 1973


The early 1920s were an intense time of spiritual searching for Franklin Carmichael. He was looking for a higher order beyond material form—a unity of nature and the universe. He read books by Ralph Waldo Emerson (Essays and Other Writings), William Kingsland (Our Infinite Life) and Edwin Carpenter (The Art of Creation: Essays on the Self and Its Powers). As Catharine Mastin wrote, “Carmichael’s own fascination with the microcosm of nature finds its Emersonian equivalent in painted versions of trees, skies, rock walls, forest floors, and valleys throughout his career, but especially up to the mid-1920s.”

His style emerged from one of tapestry-like forms inspired by Japanese design and French Art Nouveau into the more muscular representation of the landscape as seen in Morning Light. Although this work was painted a few years before he accompanied Lawren Harris on sketching trips to Lake Superior, starting in 1925, Carmichael exhibited in the early Group of Seven shows in 1920, 1921 and 1922. Given their similar interests in spirituality, Carmichael was likely influenced by Harris, as this painting has affinities with the simplifications beginning to show in Harris’s work. Morning Light is a bold work that shows Carmichael’s audacious use of colour and composition – such as the trees that move up out of the picture plane and the layered, tumbling rock forms.


Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.