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By the Foot of Jarvis Street Toronto by Peter Clapham Sheppard

Artwork by Peter Clapham Sheppard, By the Foot of Jarvis Street Toronto

P.C. Sheppard
By the Foot of Jarvis Street Toronto

oil on board
signed lower left; the Artist’s estate stamp, titled and dated circa 1939 on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 ins ( 21.6 x 26.7 cms )

Auction Estimate: $4,000.00$3,000.00 - $4,000.00

Price Realized $2,760.00
Sale date: November 29th 2013

Provenance:
The Estate of the Artist.
Roberts Gallery, Toronto.
Private Collection, Ontario.
Literature:
Ross King, “Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven”, Vancouver/Kleinburg, 2011, page 39.
A close associate and friend to members of the Group of Seven, P.C. Sheppard frequently accompanied his fellow painters on sketching expeditions in the city of Toronto. Discussing such an outing by Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald and Sheppard on the city's lakeshore, Ross King makes note of the trio of painters' ability in “beautifying their city's industrialized urban landscape.” Sheppard here does just that, elevating a scene dominated by industry, with the silos, smokestacks and distillery buildings of Toronto's east end playing a central role in the colourful painting, framed by the silhouette of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce building on the left (noted as the tallest building in the Commonwealth from 1930 to 1962) and a powerfully pointed church spire to the right.

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Peter Clapham Sheppard
(1882 - 1965) OSA, RCA

Current SalesHighlightsWatch Artist

Peter Clapham Sheppard was born in Toronto on October 21, 1881. He apprenticed at engraving houses such as at Rolph, Clark, Stone Ltd. in Toronto, where he became a highly skilled lithographer. He received his art training at the Central Ontario School of Art and Design and the Ontario College of Art under George Reid, John William Beatty, and William Cruickshank. Between 1912 and 1914, he obtained nine Honours Diplomas for for painting and drawing and was awarded the Sir Edmund Walker Scholarship and the Stone Scholarship (Life Classes).

After 1912, Sheppard travelled extensively throughout Europe and the United States. He was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1918 and an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1929. His works were shown in many of the annual R.C.A., O.S.A. and C.N.E. exhibitions, along side works by Tom Thomson, Frederick Varley and J.E.H. MacDonald. His artworks were also included in The British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1925, L’Exposition D’Art Canadien, Paris 1927, The Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Painting (Southern Dominions) 1936 and The World’s Fair, New York 1939. Sheppard’s work is held in collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canadian War Museum and the National Gallery of Canada.

In 2010, Sheppard’s works were prominently featured in the “Defiant Spirits” exhibition at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, curated by noted Canadian author Ross King. Powerful images such as “The Building of the Bloor Street Viaduct (1916)”, “Toronto Gasworks, (1912)” and “The Engine Home, (1919)” attested to Sheppard’s unchronicled contribution to modernism and to the city of Toronto in the formative years of its art history. P.C. Sheppard’s artwork is visible at the thirty-three second mark within this “Group of Seven: Defiant Sprits Exhibition” video - http://goo.gl/FS4C7x

(Source: The Estate of the Artist)