Based on the style and subject of the A.Y. Jackson oil sketch, it seems very likely to be of the Algoma region of Ontario, an area synonymous with the work of the Group of Seven. It bears a compelling visual similarity to three works, each titled A Beaver Lake, Algoma, sold by Heffel in October 2017, May 2017 and November 2009. Two of these three works were dated 1921, strongly suggesting that date for this work. Interestingly, there are two verso features that suggest the support itself is from an earlier period. Firstly, it bears the stamp of The Paris American Art Co., an artist supply store in Montparnasse. Jackson acquired sketching boards there during his time in Paris prior to WW1. Jackson’s inscription of “Montreal, Canada” is also interesting in that by 1913, Jackson had settled in Toronto, moving into the famed Studio Building by the time this work was likely produced. What results is a work that speaks to multiple important elements of this key moment in Canadian art.

This work was once a part of the collection of William Allan Manford (1913-2009). Co-founder, CEO, and chairman of the Canadian-based global asset management firm AGF, Manford was considered one of the important collectors of Canadian art of his time. His collection once included masterpieces such as Emily Carr’s Sunlight in the Forest, J.E.H McDonald’s After Sunset, Georgian Bay, and Tom Thomson’s Hillside on Big Cauchon Lake, Algonquin Park.