DOI issue:
Nr. 202 (December, 1913)
DOI article:Studio-Talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43454#0226
Studio-Talk
Toronto, Canada.—The collection
of pictures at this year’s National
Canadian Exhibition at Toronto, whilst
not including any world-famous paintings,
maintains the high level for general excellence
which marks these annual displays. The galleries of
the Fine Arts Palace are filled with canvases from
the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and,
of course, Canada. To British art-lovers the British,
United States, and German contributions are,
probably, more or less well known; but the
Canadian pictures are novelties and their makers are,
to them, mostly new men. Much excellent work,
however, is being done here in the open and in the
studio—examples of which adorn the exhibition
galleries. In the selection of pictures, a new depar-
ture was witnessed this year. In lieu of asking every
artist or amateur to send in contributions for
judgment, visits were paid to most of the studios,
and the best canvases have been
chosen without fear or favour.
Notable canvases are Ice Harvest
by Maurice Cullen of Montreal,
A Prairie Mail by C. W. Jefferys
of Toronto, and A Florentine by
Laura Muntz of Montreal. Mr.
Cullen is unrivalled in Canada for
his effects of snow and winter
atmosphere. This canvas in par-
ticular is effective by reason of the
clever technique which marks the
vapoury background. The ox-
drawn ice-sleigh is a novelty for
British eyes. Mr. Jefferys is, par
excellence, the painter of the prairies,
where the silent drama of nature
is enacted with the simplest details
—sky, grass, scrub, and flowers.
Everything is resolved into a homo-
geneous colour-scheme of blues
and browns, sage-greens and
yellows. A Prairie Mail is the
best thing Mr. Jefferys has done.
Miss Laura Muntz’s speciality is
children, whom she paints
with all their naivete. This
Florentine shown here is a fair
maiden from the Tuscan hills per-
chance. Her gown is black velve-
teen, with green-gold trimming.
The background is a dazzling bit
of Italian lakeland.
160
Three other painters who stand out prominently
among the Canadian painters this year are A. Suzor
Cote of Montreal, John Russell of Hamilton, and
Horatio Walker of Quebec. Mr. Cote’s Old French-
Canadian Pioneer is a striking portrait-study of an
old inhabitant of the Province of Quebec. Whilst
the pose and animation are quite natural the
technique of light and texture is cleverly studied.
The strong sunshine, striking the old gentleman
from behind, tints hair, nose, and shoulder with
golden light. Mr. Cote is also very excellent
in landscape and marine subjects; he has a vivid
sense of colour and a wise habit of expression.
Mr. Russell, hitherto almost an unknown man,
has three portraits in the exhibition all marked by
strong brush-work and sympathetic finish. Principal
Miller oj Ridley College, Ontario, shows the
reticence and dignity of mellow age ; Mrs. A. H. C.
Proctor exhibits the subtle vagaries of feminine
“A FLORENTINE” BY LAURA MUNTZ, A.R.C. A.
(National Canadian Exhibition, Toronto)
Toronto, Canada.—The collection
of pictures at this year’s National
Canadian Exhibition at Toronto, whilst
not including any world-famous paintings,
maintains the high level for general excellence
which marks these annual displays. The galleries of
the Fine Arts Palace are filled with canvases from
the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and,
of course, Canada. To British art-lovers the British,
United States, and German contributions are,
probably, more or less well known; but the
Canadian pictures are novelties and their makers are,
to them, mostly new men. Much excellent work,
however, is being done here in the open and in the
studio—examples of which adorn the exhibition
galleries. In the selection of pictures, a new depar-
ture was witnessed this year. In lieu of asking every
artist or amateur to send in contributions for
judgment, visits were paid to most of the studios,
and the best canvases have been
chosen without fear or favour.
Notable canvases are Ice Harvest
by Maurice Cullen of Montreal,
A Prairie Mail by C. W. Jefferys
of Toronto, and A Florentine by
Laura Muntz of Montreal. Mr.
Cullen is unrivalled in Canada for
his effects of snow and winter
atmosphere. This canvas in par-
ticular is effective by reason of the
clever technique which marks the
vapoury background. The ox-
drawn ice-sleigh is a novelty for
British eyes. Mr. Jefferys is, par
excellence, the painter of the prairies,
where the silent drama of nature
is enacted with the simplest details
—sky, grass, scrub, and flowers.
Everything is resolved into a homo-
geneous colour-scheme of blues
and browns, sage-greens and
yellows. A Prairie Mail is the
best thing Mr. Jefferys has done.
Miss Laura Muntz’s speciality is
children, whom she paints
with all their naivete. This
Florentine shown here is a fair
maiden from the Tuscan hills per-
chance. Her gown is black velve-
teen, with green-gold trimming.
The background is a dazzling bit
of Italian lakeland.
160
Three other painters who stand out prominently
among the Canadian painters this year are A. Suzor
Cote of Montreal, John Russell of Hamilton, and
Horatio Walker of Quebec. Mr. Cote’s Old French-
Canadian Pioneer is a striking portrait-study of an
old inhabitant of the Province of Quebec. Whilst
the pose and animation are quite natural the
technique of light and texture is cleverly studied.
The strong sunshine, striking the old gentleman
from behind, tints hair, nose, and shoulder with
golden light. Mr. Cote is also very excellent
in landscape and marine subjects; he has a vivid
sense of colour and a wise habit of expression.
Mr. Russell, hitherto almost an unknown man,
has three portraits in the exhibition all marked by
strong brush-work and sympathetic finish. Principal
Miller oj Ridley College, Ontario, shows the
reticence and dignity of mellow age ; Mrs. A. H. C.
Proctor exhibits the subtle vagaries of feminine
“A FLORENTINE” BY LAURA MUNTZ, A.R.C. A.
(National Canadian Exhibition, Toronto)