Canadian Fine Art Auction

November 21, 2016

LOT 43

Lot 43

KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.

KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.
Lot 43 Details
KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.

POINT LEVY, QUEBEC, CIRCA 1925

oil on panel
signed
10.25 ins x 14 ins; 25.4 cms x 35.6 cms

Estimate $60,000-$80,000

Realised: $60,000
Price Includes Buyer's Premium ?

Lot Report

Additional Images
KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.
  • KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.
  • KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.
  • KATHLEEN MOIR MORRIS, A.R.C.A.
Provenance:

Private Collection, Halifax

Literature:

Evelyn de Rostaing McMann, The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts: Exhibitions and Members, 1880-1979, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1981, page 293, Point Lévis, Quebec (NGC), listed.

Frances K. Smith, Kathleen Moir Morris (catalogue), Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University, Kingston, 1983, pages 13 and 16.

Evelyn Walters, The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters, Dundurn Press, Toronto, 2005, page 17 and page 76 for the canvas, Point Levy, Quebec, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada (acquired by Eric Brown in 1926), reproduced in colour.

Barbara Meadowcroft, Painting Friends: The Beaver Hall Women Painters, Véhicule Press, Montreal, 1999, page 87.

Exhibited:

Kathleen Morris (1893-1986), Retrospective Exhibition, Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal, September 2003, No.19.

Note:

Kathleen Morris went on regular sketching trips to the Quebec City area. Barbara Meadowcroft quotes Kathleen reminiscing about these trips: “I had a wonderful mother. She would take me off on sketching trips and sit beside me while I painted...” Meadowcroft notes that Kathleen would do two sketches, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and according to family friend Michael Dunn “never fiddled with them afterwards.” Dunn further added that “She much preferred sketches to large paintings on canvas.”

Undoubtedly, Morris would have had to work speedily on winter days, the paint thickening on the brush and becoming increasingly less cooperative in the cold. Her achievement is all the more impressive given that she lived with Cerebral Palsy. Unlike Mabel May (see lot 38), Kathleen unhesitatingly used reds and blacks in her paintings to dramatic effect, enlivening her pictures with “clever dabs and dashes of brilliant orange-red.”

While not all sketches Kathleen made were worked up into canvases, this one was (see illustration below for the canvas in the National Gallery of Canada) and it was acquired and exhibited by Eric Brown almost immediately after it was painted. Evelyn Walters credits Eric Brown, the Director of the National Gallery of Canada (1912-1939) and champion of modernism for its extensive collection of Beaver Hall pictures.

CONDITION DETAILS

For condition information please contact the specialist.

LOT 43
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About Condition Ratings

  • 5 Stars: Excellent - No discernable damage, flaws or imperfections
  • 4 Stars: Very Good - Minor flaws or imperfections visible only under close inspection using specialised instruments or black light
  • 3 Stars: Good - Minor flaws visible upon inspection under standard lighting
  • 2 Stars: Fair - Exhibits flaws or damage that may draw the eye under standard lighting
  • 1 Star: Poor - Flaws or damage immediately apparent under standard lighting (examples: missing components, rips, broken glass, damaged surfaces, etc.)

Note: Condition ratings and condition details are the subjective opinions of our specialists and should be used as a guide only. Waddington’s uses due care when preparing condition details, however, our staff are not professional restorers or conservators. Condition details and reports are not warranties and each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the buyer’s terms and conditions of sale. In all cases the prospective purchaser is responsible for inspecting the property themselves prior to placing a bid.