Maurice Galbraith Cullen 1866 - 1934

Watson Art Galleries, Montréal
Private Collection, Nova Scotia

Cullen was from a generation that did its apprenticeship in the ateliers of France before coming back to Canada to apply to Canadian subjects, light, and latitudes the techniques and devices learned in France. For Cullen, this was a form of Impressionism that he adapted for Canada’s wintry landscapes.

The subject of this canvas is one of Cullen’s favourite themes: either a river in winter, moving fast enough not to freeze over, or a river or a lake at the point of spring thaw and the break-up of the ice. This treatment of the subject in this canvas is particularly dramatic, with the extreme contrast of the dark lake against two quite different whites in the foreground and in the sky, and the middle tone of the hillside across the lake. This setting is further enhanced by the clutter of logs in the foreground, the solitary tree, and tumbling clouds in the sky. These elements and the strong overall structure of the composition give the painting a richness of detail, which even on repeated viewings is rewarding.

This work is recorded as Cullen inventory (no. 1315).