Artwork by John Geoffrey Caruthers Little,  Côte St. Marc, Quebec

John Little
Côte St. Marc, Quebec

oil on canvas board
signed lower right; signed, titled and dated 1968 on the reverse
12 x 16 ins ( 30.5 x 40.6 cms )

Auction Estimate: $12,000.00$9,000.00 - $12,000.00

Price Realized $9,440.00
Sale date: November 28th 2018

Provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal
In the artist’s iconic warm sepia tones, “Côte St. Marc, Quebec” captures the nostalgia and quiet of a near empty street. With particular attention paid to the forced perspective, architectural details and a calm atmospheric quality to the urban landscape, John Little places the viewer within the scene as the buildings and snow banks line our periphery. The small scale of this work emphasizes not only the tightness of composition, but also references vintage photographs and snap shots of a time gone by, instilling a further sense of charmed nostalgia. With a decidedly inhabited depiction of the quiet street with a single figure walking in the background, the viewer is both current participant and witness to the past.

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John Geoffrey Caruthers Little
(1928) ARCA

Born in Montreal, P.Q. in 1928. He studied two years at the Montreal Museum of Fine arts under Dr. Arthur Lismer and Goodridge Roberts. Subsequently he went to New York where he attended the Art Students' League under Will Barnet and Frank J. Reilley. It was also there in 1949 that he worked as an assistant to Mr. Ray Bailley on the now defunct comic strip "Bruce Gentry".

Returning to Montreal he became a draughtsman in his father's architectural firm (Luke & Little) in 1951. He married in 1953 and turned exclusively to painting. His street scenes won him wide acclaim. His paintings of old Montreal and Quebec City streets, houses and countryside were exhibited at the Watson Art Galleries.

During a solo exhibition at this gallery in 1957 the Montreal “Gazette” noted, "His vision is clear and his interpretation of his subjects is solid and literal. His buildings are solidly based, bear the marks of age and are recorded with a laudable attention to drawing. The last-mentioned quality apparently presents him no problems. His figures have animation, there is a convincing sense of movement in the crowds and the impression of traffic congestion in narrow streets is capitally conveyed .’’

Dorothy Pfeiffer reviewing his work in 1964 noted, "Those bemoaning the seemingly ruthless demolition of hundreds of Montreal's gracious old-world homes and other buildings, the disappearance in the name of progress of various little private nooks and parks, and the often callous disposal of dignified stone pillars and amusing cornices will gain nostalgic pleasure from John Little's show, for he had dedicated his painting to the preservation of such items for posterity. Yet so spirited and relaxed is his painting technique, that his work can in no manner today be labelled as merely documentary. He paints city streets ankle-deep in slush, where his not-quite-ripe olive green mixture carpets pavements with a mélange resembling Quebec limestone. He peoples his old streets and secluded sylvan sites with groups of today's spirited adults and children. Three important qualities it certainly contains: assurance, individuality and artistic honesty."

He has done covers for “Maclean's Magazine” in which his great sense of humour blends with his artistic abilities to depict Canadians at work and play. He is represented in the National Gallery of Canada, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Sir George Williams University Collection of Art, and many private collections.

John Little became an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1961, and then a full member of the Academy in 1973. He is a highly respected artist, and his works are very much sought-after in today's market for important Canadian art.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977