FINE & DECORATIVE ARTS
The Canadian Impressionists
Discover the illuminating art of The Canadian Impressionists
Baraset House spotlights masterworks by Canadian artists and groundbreaking pioneers who lit up the North American art scene between 1880-1935 with their captivating images and luminous visions.
Alice Des Clayes ARCA
(Canadian, 1890-1968)
Taking seaweed from the surf,
St Malo circa 1925
Oil on canvas laid on panel
Signed 'A Des Clayes' lower left
10 inches x 14 inches
Exhibited: The Art Association of Montreal, 42nd annual spring exhibition (1925), no.83, titled “Bringing in the seaweed from the surf, St Malo”
Literature: The Art Association of Montreal Annual spring exhibition (Montreal, April 26, 1925), Gazette(Montreal) April 03,1925, p.6. Review of Des Clayes exhibition no.83: “an effective seashore scene with horses and cart, by Alice DesClayes ARCA”
Alice Des Clayes ARCA (Canadian, 1890-1968) was a Scottish-born Canadian artist heavily influenced by Impressionism.
Alberta Cleland
(Canadian, 1876-1960)
The Roddick Gates
McGill University, Montreal
circa 1925
Oil on canvas laid on board
Signed 'A Cleland' lower left
13 inches x 16 inches
Of historical Canadian interest. The Roddick Gates Entrance to McGill University, Sherbrooke Street, opened in 1925.
The wrought iron fencing – missing in this image – was installed after the completion in spring 1925 of the limestone pillars. This work captures a period during the construction of the gates, when heavy snows halted progress. Based on the November 28, 1924 photograph of the construction in the McCord Museum, this painting dates during the winter months between December 1924 and March 1925.
Cleland taught alongside William Brymner at the Montreal Museum of Art. Her students include Edwin Holgate, Nora Collyer, Marion Scott and others from 1898-1937.
John A. Hammond RCA OSA
(Canadian, 1843-1939)
Harbour of St John
New Brunswick
circa 1895
Oil on board
Signed 'J Hammond' lower right
Signed & titled on reverse
13.4 inches x 16.4 inches
"Mr. Hammond is essentially a painter of the sea and of the harbour, with its shipping, and that his greatest success are his atmospheric effects, when he fixes on canvas the prismatic beauty that comes from the sunlight struggling through the fog.” (Toronto Star 1920)
John A. Hammond is one of Canada’s earliest celebrated historical artists. Hammond exhibited at the National Gallery in New York in 1887, and at the Pan-American Exhibition in 1901. He was elected Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1890, and then as a full member in 1893. He exhibited regularly at the Royal Canadian Academy between 1891 and 1935.
Born in Montreal in 1843, Hammond later moved to Saint John, New Brunswick where he painted portraits in 1880. He was listed in the Saint John Directory as an artist from 1880 to 1882, and as an artist with Wm. & J. Notman from 1882 to 1884. He became the principal of the Owens Art Institution. Examples of his work can be found in institutions and private collections worldwide including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec and at the McCord Museum.