Additional Images

Provenance:

Collection of Wynne Chisholm (née Wallis), Annapolis Royal, NS;
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

This charming painting comes from the collection of Winnifred (Wynne) Chisholm, Nova Scotia. A well-known member of the Digby community, Chisholm was an active collector of Lewis’s work. She was also the owner of the original painted door from Maid Lewis's house, which she hung prominently on the wall of her restaurant The Sea Shell, a popular destination in Digby. The door was later acquired by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 1984.

Untitled (Two Deer, Sunset), came directly from the artist, and has remained in Chisholm’s family collection ever since. A recurring scene for Lewis, the work exudes the nostalgia and stillness typically found in her work. Ray Kronin writes, "here the tiny village—a few houses and barns flanking a white wooden church—lies nestled in its peaceful valley. There are no signs of modernity—no power lines or even a road. The unlikely pair of white tail deer—a doe and a stag—look out onto the scene much as the viewer of the painting does. Here we have nature observing culture, a bucolic and wishful expression of harmony between the human and animal worlds."

Waddington’s is pleased to bring this painting to market for the first time.

References:
Art Canada Institute Deer in Winter c. 1950 Art Canada Institute. March 27, 2023.