Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Toronto, ON

Literature:

Catalogue of the Sixty-First Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists; Exhibitions by Young Canadians. (Toronto: Art Gallery of Toronto, 1933), 12, no. 176 (exhibition catalogue).
“Seven Exhibits from the Annual Show of the Ontario Society of Artists.” The Evening Telegram, Toronto, 4 Mar 1933, 14 (repro. b/w).
Catalogue of the Fifty-Fourth Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (Montreal: Art Association of Montreal, 1933) 15, no. 217 (exhibition catalogue).
“Many Fine Works Mark R.C.A. Exhibit.” The Gazette, Montreal, 17 Nov 1933, 10.
“Royal Canadian Academy’s 54th Exhibition.” Montreal Star, Montreal, 22 Nov 1933.
Royal Canadian Academy Travelling Exhibition, 1934 (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1934), 11, no. 74, (exhibition catalogue).

Exhibited:

Sixty-First Annual Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists, Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, ON, 3 Mar.-2 [?] Apr. 1933, no. 176.
Fifty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and exhibition of photographs of buildings submitted by architects for competition for medal of RAIC, Art Association of Montreal, Montreal, QC, 16 Nov.-17 Dec. 1933, no. 217.
Royal Canadian Academy Travelling Exhibition, 1934, [travelling exhibition of 54th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy, organized by the National Gallery of Canada] National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, 26 Jan.-22 (?) Feb. 1934; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB, Mar. 1934; University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Apr. 1934; Women's Art Association, Regina, SK, May 1934; Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, Calgary, AB, Jul. 1934; Calgary Public Museum, Calgary, AB, Jul. 1934; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Aug. 1934; Western Washington Fair, Puyallup, Washington, USA, Sep. 1934; Edmonton Museum of Fine Arts, Edmonton, AB, Oct. 1934; Women's Art Association, Moose Jaw, SK, Nov. 1934, no. 74.

Note:

Peter Clapham Sheppard’s Ocean Freighter debuted in 1933 at the 61st exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists in Toronto on a weekend when The Toronto Daily Star published an article about German plans for Jewish eradication, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously reassured his country, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” in his inauguration speech as America’s 32nd president.[1] In the depth of the Great Depression and with Adolf Hitler ascendant, Sheppard saw industry and nobility in Toronto’s urban fabric.

The 1933 OSA exhibition included two other masterful paintings of Toronto by Sheppard: The Market (November) (no. 175)[2] and Elizabeth St. (no. 174), which set the current record for a Sheppard painting at auction in November 2018 at Waddington’s. With these paintings Sheppard portrays a city that is much more than a bricks and mortar version of a landscape that could have been painted by any member of the Group of Seven. From the 1910s to the 1930s Sheppard understood the city as an agglomeration of humans persevering against circumstance.

Ocean Freighter’s low horizon elevates the ship’s looming hull, and overcast light gently infuses a composition that is more meditative than demonstrative. As with his other two paintings in that exhibition, Sheppard’s colours are subtly modulated, brushstrokes distinguish foreground and background activity with clear, extended draws defining the hull, water and wharf, and short, broad and overlapping strokes define the overcast city and sky. Ocean Freighter was such a standout that Sheppard submitted it to that year’s exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, where it was accepted and then later selected for the touring version of the RCAA exhibition that travelled throughout western Canada and into the United States into late 1934.

Sheppard painted Toronto from street level where it is constantly surprising and enchanting, where barriers are lowest, changes are fastest, and its humanity is closest.

[1] “First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Accessed 6 April 2023, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/froos1.asp.
[2] Tom Smart, Peter Clapham Sheppard: His Life and Work (Richmond Hill, ON / Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2018), 215 repro. col.

Contributed by Gregory Humeniuk, an art historian, consultant, writer, and curator based in Toronto.

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