William Percival (W.P.) Weston
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
1879 - 1967
ARCA BCSFA CGP RBA
William Percival (W.P.) Weston was born in London and immigrated to Vancouver in 1909. Trained as a teacher (at the Battersea Pupil-Teacher Centre and the Borough Teacher Training College in London) and as an artist (at the Putney School of Art in London), he began to work and exhibit immediately, showing with the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts and teaching at King Edward School. He realized that the coastal landscape of British Columbia - his preferred subject - was very different from that of England, and began to hike and sail to explore the landscape, sketching out-of-doors constantly, working up his sketches in the studio in order to find a mode of expression that fit the landscape. He was taken by the immensity of things; the vastness of forests, the sheer size of coastal trees, their cycles of life - their growth and decay. He knew and admired the work of Emily Carr, and corresponded with her regarding ideas and concerns he had in his own work. His energy filled works are characterized by his masterful attention to line, pattern, balance and movement, and focus on mountains, trees, cloud patterns and the action of wind and weather on the landscape.
Weston was an influential educator, holding a succession of prominent positions and emphasizing the importance of drawing as a fundamental component of art training in his teaching. In 1910 he was appointed Drawing Supervisor at the Vancouver School Board after only one year of teaching in Canada, and in 1912 became Head of Night School programs. In 1914 he was appointed Art Master at King Edward, then known as the Provincial Normal School, and beginning in 1917, would teach for 22 terms at the summer school for teachers in Victoria. During this time, Weston co-authored an instructional drawing manual for teachers with Charles H. Scott and S.P. Judge that was published in 1924 as The Teacher’s Manual of Drawing and Design. A Teacher’s Manual of Drawing would be published in 1932 under Weston’s sole authorship. Both of these volumes would become standard text in Manitoba and British Columbia, and Weston would also work to revise curriculum for the British Columbia Department of Education. In 1931, his art came to the attention of the National Gallery of Canada, who purchased Canada’s Western Ramparts. They would later add the drawing The Summit to their collections. Weston was elected President of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts in 1931 and in 1933 became a charter member of the newly formed Canadian Group of Painters that grew out of the disbanded Group of Seven. The following year a one-man exhibition opened at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In 1936 Weston was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy. In 1938 he was appointed to the Royal Society of Artists, London, as well as being elected a life member of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts. In 1945 a one-man show of his work toured the Prairie Provinces with the Western Canada Art Circuit. By the time of his retirement from the Provincial Normal School in 1946 he was the Art Master, and in 1948 he became a member of the Western Group of Painters. An exhibition of his work was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1946 and a retrospective there in 1959, along with one-man shows at the Victoria Arts Centre, Coste House in Calgary, the Vancouver Arts Club and the Richmond Art Gallery. His work is found in numerous public collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Hart House, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. He died in 1967 in New Westminster.
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Mt. Klitsa by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $236,000
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Mt. Klitsa
44 x 36 in, 111.7 x 91.4 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $90,000 - $120,000 CDN
Sold for: $236,000 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 2nd Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Church Mountain by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $115,000
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Church Mountain
36 x 44 in, 91.4 x 111.7 cm
1938
oil on canvas
Estimate: $50,000 - $70,000 CDN
Sold for: $115,000 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art Fall 2006 on Friday, November 24, 2006
BC Coast by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $111,250
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
BC Coast
32 1/2 x 40 1/4 in, 82.5 x 102.3 cm
circa 1934
oil on canvas
Estimate: $40,000 - $50,000 CDN
Sold for: $111,250 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art Spring 2001 on Wednesday, May 09, 2001
Hollyburn Ridge by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $111,150
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Hollyburn Ridge
36 1/2 x 40 in, 92.7 x 101.6 cm
circa 1929
oil on canvas
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 CDN
Sold for: $111,150 CDN (premium included)
Fall 2009 - 2nd Session on Thursday, November 26, 2009
The Cliff Road by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $111,150
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
The Cliff Road
36 x 30 in, 91.4 x 76.2 cm
1940
oil on canvas
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 CDN
Sold for: $111,150 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2010 - 2nd Session on Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Coast Scene, Howe Sd., BC by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $103,250
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Coast Scene, Howe Sd., BC
22 x 26 in, 55.9 x 66 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CDN
Sold for: $103,250 CDN (premium included)
Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art on Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Mt. Klitsa by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $99,450
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Mt. Klitsa
44 x 36 in, 111.7 x 91.4 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000 CDN
Sold for: $99,450 CDN (premium included)
Fall 2012 - 2nd Session on Thursday, November 22, 2012
Old Pine, Vancouver Island by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $88,500
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Old Pine, Vancouver Island
36 x 40 in, 91.4 x 101.6 cm
oil on canvas
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CDN
Sold for: $88,500 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2016 - 2nd Session on Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Forest Spires by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $87,750
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Forest Spires
36 x 28 in, 91.4 x 71.1 cm
circa 1931
oil on canvas
Estimate: $70,000 - $90,000 CDN
Sold for: $87,750 CDN (premium included)
Spring 2012 - 2nd Session on Thursday, May 17, 2012
Church Mountain, Near Mount Baker by William Percival (W.P.) Weston sold for $86,250
William Percival (W.P.) Weston
Church Mountain, Near Mount Baker
41 1/2 x 53 1/4 in, 105.4 x 135.2 cm
circa 1938
oil on canvas
Estimate: $40,000 - $50,000 CDN
Sold for: $86,250 CDN (premium included)
Fine Canadian Art Fall 2004 on Thursday, November 25, 2004