Please note our offices will be closed from Friday March 29 through Monday April 1 for Easter. Local pick-ups will start on Tuesday April 2.
      
      
      
      

LOT 147

CGP CSGA CSPWC
1882 - 1953
Canadian

Elm Street
watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1939 and on verso inscribed by Douglas Duncan "W-138" and "Elm St." on the sheet and "W-398" / "W-146" / "Frame and Glass" on the labels
14 x 20 in, 35.6 x 50.8 cm

Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000 CAD

Sold for: $25,000

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Douglas Duncan Picture Loan Society, circa 1965
Canadian Art, Joyner Fine Art, May 29, 2001, lot 42
Private Collection, Ontario
By descent to the present Private Estate, Ontario

LITERATURE
Sixty-ninth Annual Spring Exhibition, Ontario Society of Artists, Art Gallery of Toronto, 1941, page 12
David Milne: The Toronto Year, 1939 - 1940, Marlborough-Godard, 1976, page 6, listed page 11
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 2: 1929 - 1953, 1998, reproduced page 700, catalogue #401.13

EXHIBITED
Douglas Duncan Picture Loan Society, Toronto, Recent Water Colours by David Milne (Autumn 1939 to Autumn 1940), January 11 - 24, 1941, catalogue #8
Art Gallery of Toronto, Sixty-ninth Annual Spring Exhibition, Ontario Society of Artists, March 7 - 31, 1941, catalogue #109
Marlborough-Godard, Toronto, David Milne: The Toronto Year, 1939 - 1940, January 1976, catalogue #8


In 1939, David Milne moved from Six Mile Lake to Toronto, where he stayed until fall of 1940. It was a personally and professionally fulfilling year – Milne moved in with Kathleen Pavey, and Douglas Duncan started showing his work. Duncan ensured that Milne was included in exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Toronto, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Canadian Group of Painters and the 1939 New York World’s Fair, to name a few. Also, after the isolation of Six Mile Lake, Milne enjoyed seeing films and visiting museums and art galleries.

Milne worked predominantly in watercolour in Toronto, painting urban subjects and rural settings such as the upper Don River valley, as well as interiors and still lifes. Elm Street is two blocks north of Dundas Street, off Yonge Street, although these buildings are now demolished or transformed. This painting shows Milne’s shift from his drybrush style of the 1920s. He described his new style as “vivid and gay” and “far from realistic,” delineating the shape of the buildings with black lines and applying colour with wet washes. Milne left bare paper for sky – providing spatial breathing space – but topped off the left corner with an area of black to denote clouds. In Elm Street, Milne shows his mastery of watercolour, handling his effects with fluid ease.


Estimate: $30,000 - $40,000 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.