Alexander Young Jackson 1882 - 1974

Walter Klinkoff Gallery, Montreal

Private Collection, Toronto

Ottawa, The Group of Seven, National Gallery of Canada, June, 1970, no. 162

Dennis Reid, The Group of Seven, Ottawa, 1970, illustrated p. 210

This painting has been examined under UV and is in very good condition. The verso is slightly discoloured in areas and there are two patches, a dent and small puncture in the canvas. The patch on verso at lower right shows a repair on recto which was filed in, but not inpainted, the other patch shows no visible repair from the recto. We would like to thank "In Restauro Conservart Inc." for examing this painting and their original notes are available upon request to Sotheby's.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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This fine canvas has all the qualities that typify most of Jackson's best works. Jackson was able to portray, with both accuracy and a distinctive style, the broad sweep of the Canadian landscape. Whether he was in the foothills of the Rockies, in the tundra of the high Arctic, in the farmland or northern forests of Ontario, or in the coastal regions of the Atlantic Provinces or further afield in Labrador and Newfoundland, he knew how to extract and record the essential characteristics of each region.

Here, however, he has tackled his favourite part of Canada, the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. Jackson spoke French and since he travelled along the shore for thirty successive years, save 1925, he was known by many of the locals, who looked forward to his annual visits. He trekked around on snowshoes looking for subjects to paint and was nicknamed Père Raquette. He brought along with him Frederick Banting, who went under the name Fred Grant (his middle name) in order not to be taken as the famous doctor, or Albert Robinson, an early and constant Montreal painter.

Jackson's trips were all scheduled during his favourite season: late winter.  With the blanket of snow still lying deep upon the fields, but beginning to soften in anticipation of spring, Jackson had to find a way of depicting this subtle period at the beginning of the equinoctial transition. In every inch of this work he has found a way to convey the sense of this shift in the year's cycle.

Although Jackson has captured this scene either before anyone has ventured out or after they have retreated to their small houses, he has created a canvas that is remarkably animated throughout. The now-open river heralds the advent of spring; the drifts of snow have the appearance of old snow that the sun has glazed and settled; the shadows in the lee of the snow banks and the small humps of hills along the river accentuate the cross light; the sinuous esses with which Jackson has shaped the contours of the fields demonstrate his signature style; even the sky has both puffy cumulus clouds piling up over the horizon and much further back the long bands of the higher cirrus clouds. The houses, barns and out-buildings provide accents here and there in this domestic and rural setting, which is hunkered down still from the long winter now behind it.