CGP OSA PRCA
1898 - 1967
Canadian
The Crane, Sunset
oil on board
signed and dated 1915 and on verso signed, titled, dated November 1915 and inscribed "Montreal" and variously
5 1/2 x 6 7/8 in, 14 x 17.5 cm
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000 CAD
Sold for: $17,500
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Calgary
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 30, 2015, lot 609
Private Estate, Ontario
LITERATURE
Anne-Marie Bouchard, Sarah Milroy, editors, River of Dreams: Impressionism on the St. Lawrence, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2024, reproduced page 52, listed page 245
EXHIBITED
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinberg, River of Dreams: Impressionism on the St. Lawrence, June 22, 2024 – January 12, 2025
Although Robert Pilot’s work is rightfully placed at the heart of Quebec Impressionism, it is often forgotten that he was born and spent much of his childhood in Newfoundland. He moved to Quebec in 1910 after his mother married pioneering Canadian Impressionist and fellow east-coast-born Maurice Cullen, marking the beginning of Pilot’s life as an artist. He studied under Cullen in his studio and accompanied him on on-site sketching trips, honing his skills. After additional tutelage from William Brymner, a major proponent of modern painting styles, Pilot’s own artistic voice took shape. With bold, textural gestures on small wooden supports or pochades, he produced intimate, luminous works like this and Canal Lachine, 1916 (sold by Heffel in July 2023). Very rarely appearing at auction, the paintings produced by Pilot before World War 1 are evidence of his remarkable early brilliance.
Notably, The Crane, Sunset was recently showcased in the McMicheal Canadian Art Collection exhibition River of Dreams: Impressionism on the St. Lawrence, presented alongside some of the finest paintings in Quebec art history.
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