Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Ontario

Note:

Perhaps an unfamiliar scene for collectors of John Little’s famous Montreal cityscapes, this bucolic winter scene comes from early in his career. The artist noted that “landscape painting for me, it was so placid, like looking out a window.” (1) His early work holds influences from Robert Pilot and Franklin Arbuckle—indeed it would be another ten years before Little found his way to his signature style.

Seasoned observers of Little’s work know that the backs of his paintings are often as interesting as their fronts—this verso situates this painting as being made during the first month of Little’s marriage to his wife Lorraine. The two met in the summer of 1951 when Little travelled to Nova Scotia to spend time with friends on their fishing boat.

When this was painted, Little’s career was still in its infancy, and 1951 would mark the beginnings of his regular—rather than piecemeal—dealings with art galleries in Montreal. He signs the work as “Nipper,” a nickname given to him in his youth which followed him through his life.

(1) Alan Klinkhoff, John Little: City Life From 1951 (Alan Klinkhoff Gallery: Toronto, 2017), 135