Alec Blair on Discovering Works by Lawren Harris

Held in a private family collection for generations, Lawren Harris’ “North Shore, Lake Superior” is being brought to market for the first time since its original acquisition directly from the artist in the early 1930s. A highlight of Waddington’s Fall auction of Canadian and International Fine Art, Harris’ Lake Superior scenes are among his most sought after subjects. To mark the occasion, Waddington’s sat down with Alec Blair, the director of the Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, to discuss “North Shore, Lake Superior” and why it is so special to discover previously unknown paintings.

What can you tell us about “North Shore, Lake Superior,” on offer in our major fall Fine Art auction?

A fantastic and exciting work, it is a canvas that was previously unknown to us at the Lawren S. Harris Inventory project, which makes it such a thrill to have the chance for it to be rediscovered. “North Shore” is emblematic of what Harris was working on in the late 1920s, which was this incredibly fruitful period. Harris was at one of his creative peaks when he painted “North Shore” – throughout his career, we see him oscillating between feeling really invigorated and confident and then periods of self doubt. This painting comes from a period when he was really thriving, depicting a subject that he loved and that he really felt could clearly communicate this underlying truth about the Canadian landscape and the human experience.

“North Shore, Lake Superior” has a precedent in a sketch (1) that would have been done on one of his trips out into the field sometime between 1925 and 1928. He went to Lake Superior many times starting in 1921, with the last trip taking place in the fall of 1928. “North Shore, Lake Superior” was painted from the Coldwell Peninsula, looking east towards the town of Marathon. It’s a view over Detention Island, a view that he depicted in several prominent works, including a canvas that’s quite similar in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

It’s a wonderful example of a classic Harris. When you see it in person, it really sings. The texture and the contrast between the different surfaces – the water, the light in the sky – are all remarkable. Harris’ paintings have a great amount of nuance, and use a lot of subtlety in their variations of colour. They’re not flat. Seeing this work in reproduction is an entirely different experience than seeing it in person, which I was lucky enough to do. In person, you become aware of Harris’ real ability to make these complex things look reasonably simple and straightforward, which they’re not.

Let’s talk more about the date of the work.

Harris went to Lake Superior many times, starting in 1921. Stylistically, it is very clear that this painting was made in the latter half of the 20s. When we date work, we try to compare pencil sketches and similar works, as well as work made by artists he was with. For example, in 1927, Harris was at Lake Superior with Arthur Lismer, while in 1928 he was there with A.J. Casson, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson.

With “North Shore, Lake Superior,” it’s hard at this moment to precisely narrow it down to what year the sketch was done, because we have no examples of it being exhibited in a Group of Seven show. This isn’t uncommon, as he would only exhibit a couple paintings in each of those shows. We know that he really found his voice in the Lake Superior works, and his focus on simplified forms really matured by about 1928. This work sits right in the sweet spot of his Lake Superior catalogue, among this period of abundance of both inspiration and material.

As someone so deeply acquainted with the artist’s work, what’s it like to come across a previously unknown painting?

It’s a thrill, and it’s one of my favourite things. It doesn’t happen as often as it did in the first couple years of the project, so it’s even more exciting now, especially when that unknown painting is as instantly classic as “North Shore, Lake Superior.”

We see on average 10-20 of these ‘new’ works a year. They come in waves, which typically coincide with the spring and fall auction seasons. Often the paintings match descriptions we have in our inventories, or maybe we will see the sketch for a known painting. We know there’s a lot out there in private collections and we are very keen to see these works and get them catalogued.

Alec, you’re a painter yourself. Do you think that understanding the artistic process and knowing how a painting gets made has helped you understand Harris and how great his work is?

Yes, I think it’s a very helpful asset, both for things as simple as dating works, to understanding the logistics of how Harris would have transported his work when he was on sketching trips. Being an artist also deepens my appreciation of his skill. Many people have this notion that Harris’ work is simple, given the simplified details and forms he used, that sort of abstract quality of his compositions. But when you take a closer look, you notice his nuanced use of colour and the huge amount of complexity he put into his paintings – simplified but not simple. As a painter, I can appreciate the logistics of it.

What makes a Harris a Harris?

When Harris was first painting, his obsession with appreciating the Canadian landscape for what it was and this emerging sense of Canadian identity set his and the Group of Seven’s work apart. They were painting scenes that included swamps and desolate burnt landscapes, views that were not assumed at the time to fit into the romantic ideal of what art should look like.

Harris specifically had a clarity of vision and a desire to simplify. He seemed to be incredibly tuned into the essential elements of his work and nothing else, which typified both his landscape and his abstract periods. Harris was very deliberate no matter what he was painting, doing multiple iterations of almost every subject. He was always trying to distil everything down to its essence, regardless of the subject and style he used across his long and innovative career.

Why does Harris’ work continue to be relevant around a century after they were painted? 

I think its power lies in its ability to mean different things at different times. When his work was initially shared with the public, it was meant to be a new and local perspective on the world, separate from what was being depicted in European art. While these scenes were not “local” for the largely urban population of Canada, they did allow for a widening appreciation of what could be found within this new nation of Canada. Over time that has shifted. In the present day, we can still appreciate representations of the landscape within a wider historical and more diverse context. These paintings celebrate the human need to connect with the world and the wilderness, to connect with a landscape that is bigger than any individual.

Harris and the Group of Seven had a particular perspective, which can be looked at through a critical lens in the present day. The works can provoke a reexamination of our history with the landscape in this country and beyond our borders, whether that’s universal acclaim or some mixture of acclaim and also criticism. I think Harris would still welcome these conversations as much now as he did in the 1920s.

Tell us about The Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project and how you came to be involved.

The project is an initiative to create a working catalogue of Harris’ works. We call it an inventory given that it’s going to be in progress for a very long time. Trying to put together any sort of complete catalogue is the work of several lifetimes for most prolific artists, and Harris having been active for a good six decades means that it’ll hopefully be a very long time before we stop seeing new work. Despite the fact that it won’t be a complete catalogue anytime soon, we hope it can be a resource that we make publicly available. It’s a collaboration between myself and the family of Lawren Harris, in particular Stew Sheppard. We have a shared goal of bolstering what people know about the work of Harris, his legacy and his contribution to Canadian art.

I came to be involved almost a decade ago, after having rediscovered a passion for Canadian art in grad school where I was studying geography. I decided to write a letter to Stew expressing my interest in Harris’ work and ask if there was anything I could do to contribute to any research that might be going on. He explained that there was no single project that encompassed Harris’ career, and we met to discuss potential ideas – and that’s how the Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project was started.

ABOUT THE AUCTION:

Lawren Harris’ “North Shore, Lake Superior” is one of the highlights of our major fall auction of Canadian and International Fine Art, alongside an early abstract by Rita Letendre, and three iconic sculptures by British artist Lynn Chadwick. Other notable names include James Wilson Morrice, Jean Paul Lemieux, Jean McEwen, David Hockney, Kent Monkman and Shirin Neshat.

Held online beginning November 6, the auction starts to close November 28, 2024 at 8:00 pm ET.

Please contact us for more information.

1. Lawren Harris’ sketch “North Shore, Lake Superior,” oil on board, 12 x 15 inches, sold at Ritchies/Sotheby’s, Toronto on May 26, 2008, Lot 205 for $692,500 CAD including premium.