Additional Images

Provenance:

Laing Fine Art Galleries Limited, Toronto, ON
Private Collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

Before 1906, Beatty had painted mostly landscapes, typified by low horizons, vertical trees, heightened colours, and linear definition. In the words of D.M. Farr: “Trees are silhouetted against the sky on one half of the canvas, while on the other, one's eye travels through into the distance, to find a flickering band of horizontal light below a dark horizon. The strong verticals of the trees and the very straight horizontals of geography create great stability in both compositions. The use of silhouette enhances the sense of depth.”[1]

After 1910, Beatty rejected these European scenes for more Canadian landscapes and a different use of colours: “the colour is relatively muted in soft grays and mauves. The pigments are mixed on the palette, not on the canvas, and are spread with even, smooth strokes of a relatively small brush, to cover the canvas evenly and completely. The paint layers were built up gradually in academic fashion, with heavy impasto only in the clouds as highlight.”[2]

The painting Sunset, Haliburton, likely painted around 1915, showcases Beatty's signature style as well as his artistic evolution as he broke free from European influence and established a strong, densely coloured impasto.

[1] D. M. Farr, Beatty, J. W., & Centre, A. E. A. (1981). J.W. Beatty, 1869-1941, Kingston, Ont, Agnes Etherington Art Centre. p.24.
[2] ibid. p.22.