Sold for: $2,500

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Ontario

Please note: this work is unframed.

Harold Beament was best known as a painter of naval scenes, spurred by a long career in the navy: beginning as an enlisted seaman with the Royal Navy Canadian Volunteer Reserve in World War I, he would rise to the rank of Commander by World War II. The interwar period saw him develop his artistic practice in earnest, and under tutelage by J.W. Beatty at the Ontario College of Art, Beament would develop a poignant and graphic style - excelling in landscapes and, appropriately enough, marine scenes. By 1943 he was appointed as a senior Canadian war artist, and the war would take him and his painting to Newfoundland, the North Atlantic, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean.

This scene, likely painted during this period, is an excellent example of Beament’s skill with composition, colour and heightened realism, in this depiction of a landscape view overlooking the entrance to the harbour at St. John’s, Newfoundland. The focus of the work is Queen’s Battery, a British coastal battery and barracks built on Signal Hill above the city that was active from 1796 until 1870. In the distance, St. John’s rises across the bay, the multicoloured homes expressed as a kaleidoscopic patchwork in front of hazy distant hills. The battery’s cannons sit atop the polychromatic cliffs, staring out at the strait and towards the Atlantic at the viewer’s back - a direct, if anachronistic, defence of the home front. There is no immediate sense of threat here, however - a thick blanket of snow dampens the landscape, and a muted snowfall drifts across the scene.

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.