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.