Lot 45
GEORGE DOUGLAS PEPPER, O.S.A., R.C.A.
Additional Images
Provenance:
Purchased from Kathleen Daly Pepper
By descent to Private Collection, Ottawa
Note:
Educated at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, George Pepper honed his technique in France and Italy before returning to his hometown of Ottawa. He moved back to Toronto to teach at his alma mater, a career interrupted by a stint as a war artist from 1943-1946.
As a young artist, Pepper studied with J.W. Beatty and J.E.H. MacDonald. The influence of the Group of Seven can be felt in Pepper’s work, echoed in the undulating forms and lively palette of Boathouses on the Ottawa River. The boathouses in question take a backseat to the blanket of snow that utterly envelops the landscape, draping it in a languid layer of thick white fondant. There is an almost cartoonish quality to the snow, shaped in gleeful balls and exuberant puffs. Pepper’s painting showcases winter at its very best: playful, light-filled and inviting.