P.C. Sheppard: Christie Pits, Toronto

November 25, 2024 By: Gregory Humeniuk

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The rare beauty of Christie Pits, Toronto is what makes Peter Clapham Sheppard singular in Canadian art.

*CHRISTIE PITS, TORONTO, CA. 1932*
*oil on canvas, signed lower right*
*Estimate: $20,000—30,000*

Within a composition of horizontals, verticals, and diagonals rendered in tints of green, soft browns, and accented by brisk reds, Sheppard presents a sophisticated vignette of Depression-era Toronto with the humanity he consistently and uniquely brought to his urban scenes.

Sheppard’s work parallels an increasing interest in humanism and urban content in Toronto painting starting in the late 1920s.[1] Beautiful and provocative, his luminous images are striking contrasts to the dour images of many of his Toronto contemporaries.

The view of the south end of Willowvale Park (as Christie Pits was called until 1983) shows the working classes of west end Toronto and was less than a thirty minute walk from Sheppard’s residence at the time.

A pair of down-at-the-heel men occupy the foreground. Behind them, possibly a young family, relax in the shade. The arrangement of the figures on the hillside, and particularly the man reclining on his elbows, conjure Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1884/86).[2]

Here and in other paintings, Sheppard scrutinized shared public spaces, codes of behaviour, and decorum that T. J. Clark would explore in his defining reading of Impressionism and the Grande Jatte fifty years later.[3] In Christie Pits, Toronto, Sheppard’s sophistication and subtlety compels the viewer to contemplate our shared humanity.

The above essay was contributed by Gregory Humeniuk. Humeniuk is an art historian, consultant, writer, and curator based in Toronto.

[1] Anna Victoria Hudson, “Art and Social Progress: The Toronto community of Painters, 1933-1950,” Ph.D. diss., (University of Toronto, 1997), 2-3, 178-179, 188-190.
[2] Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891), A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884/86, oil on canvas, 207.5 x 308.1 cm (81-3/4 x 121-1/4 in.), The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, acc. no. 1926.224.
[3] T. J. Clark, The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), 261, 263-267.

More on Christie Pits

Christie Pits (originally Willowvale Park) is an 8.9-hectare park located across from the Christie subway station, in Toronto, Ontario. The park was named after the Christie Sand Pits which were on the location until the early 1900s. The sand pits had been named after Christie Street, which was named after William Mellis Christie, co-founder of the Christie & Brown Cookie Company, now known as Mr. Christie.

On April 4, 2017, Toronto and East York Community Council adopted the naming of the artificial ice rink in Christie Pits as the Sid Smith Artificial Ice Rink. Sidney James Smith, was born July 11, 1925 in Toronto. As a youngster, he practiced on the ice rink in Christie Pits every chance he could. This is where his love for hockey began. He played in minor leagues in Toronto and later with the Oshawa Generals in the Ontario Hockey League. Sid Smith played his entire NHL career as a left-winger with the Toronto Maple Leafs from approximately 1946-58. He was team captain from 1955 to 1956. Sid Smith played in seven All-Star Games, won three Stanley Cups, the John B. Sollenberger Trophy and two Lady Byng Memorial Trophies. City of Toronto.

About the Auction

Christie Pits, Toronto is offered as lot 213 in our major Canadian & International Fine Art auction, online until November 27, 2024. The auction also features an important Lake Superior canvas by Lawren Harris, an early abstract by Rita Letendre, a charming composition by Jean Paul Lemieux, an urban scene by Peter Clapham Sheppard and three iconic sculptures by British artist Lynn Chadwick. Other notable artists represented in this auction include James Wilson Morrice, Jean McEwen, David Hockney, and Shirin Neshat.

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