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LOT 117

1815 - 1872
Canadian

Lumbering Rafts at Wolfe's Cove: Quebec
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1867 and on verso titled Wolff's [sic] Cove: Quebec on the gallery label, certified by William R. Watson, Montreal, 1937 and stamped Watson Art Galleries, Montreal
14 x 21 1/2 in, 35.6 x 54.6 cm

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

Sold for: $49,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Collection of the Gooderham family, Toronto
Watson Art Galleries, Montreal
By descent to the present Private Estate, Montreal

LITERATURE
J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, 1979, the 1862 canvas entitled Log Rafts in Sillery Cove reproduced page 93
Dennis Reid, Krieghoff: Images of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1999, page 94, the large circa 1864 canvas entitled Sillery Cove, Quebec, collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, reproduced page 255


Inscribed on the Watson Art Galleries label:

One of the most interesting of Krieghoff's Quebec paintings, this work was for over fifty years in the Gooderham family of Toronto. It represents a scene long since a record of the past, when the vast log-rafts, having come down the St. Francis River were assembled at Wolff’s [sic] Cove. With the true eye of a great artist, Krieghoff has seized the essentials of the scene, and created a picture of great charm and beauty. The foreground, the trees, distant view of Quebec, and the fine color, are characteristic of his masterly handlings. This is also a most unique picture, it being the only known one dealing with this subject. [sic] The canvas has been recently relined, and the picture is in an excellent state of preservation. We have pleasure in recommending it as an important and representative work by C. Krieghoff, and we guarantee its genuineness and authenticity.

William Watson, Watson Art Galleries, 1937

From 1853, Cornelius Krieghoff lived in Quebec City, where he observed the activities of the lumber trade, a major international industry for Quebec. Sillery was its centre - wharves on the St. Lawrence were lined with timber merchants’ offices and loading facilities, and log booms gathered along its coves. Krieghoff painted several other versions of this extraordinary scene, including Log Rafts in Sillery Cove (1862) and Sillery Cove, Quebec (circa 1864), a canvas that was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, and which Dennis Reid called “the great painting of the period.”


Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 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.