Additional Images

Provenance:

Family of the Artist;
Private Collection, London, ON

Note:

A founding member of both the Beaver Hall Group and of the Canadian Group of Painters, Seath devoted her life to both painting and teaching, both of which are testament to her artistic merits. Seath began making trips into the local landscape to paint beginning in 1911 when she was studying at the Art Association of Montreal under Maurice Cullen, who would lead “lively excursions” into the Quebec countryside. She later continued this habit, painting on vacations with friends.

Seath’s bold colours and exploration into the field of design are well characterized in Wheat Fields. The haystacks carry inflections of Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, schisming away from pure objectivity into something more lyrical and abstract. Of abstraction, which began to enter her work during later years, Seath told her students: "don't slam it! You may grow into it."

Of "Red Church", it is entirely possible that this may have been painted in the Eastern Townships outside of Montreal, as it resembles several brick churches characteristic of the region. It emblemifies the vibrant yet earthy palette that characterized Seath’s work, while also echoing the refrain she often gave to her pupils: "Don't be shy," she would say, "fill the page, make a mess!"

Literature:
Roger Little, Ethel Seath Retrospective Exhibition (Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc.: Montreal, 1987) Reproduced online at Alan Klinkhoff Gallery