Lot 21: ALBERT HENRY ROBINSON 1881 - 1956

ALBERT HENRY ROBINSON 1881 - 1956 FARM IN AUTUMN signed with the artist's initials lower left A.H.R. oil on panel 27.9 by 33.0 cm. 11 by 13 in.

A.K. Prakash, Albert Henry Robinson, (1881-1956), Canada's Foremost Master of Colour, "Magazin Art", Winter, 1966, pp. 85 and 87

Private Collection, Toronto

On the subject of Albert Henry Robinson's paintings, A.K. Prakash notes:

Robinson painted with a preference for high key... his art has a harmony of colour and design rarely found in the work of other artists of his generation... he used colour itself to underline the poetic appeal of the lands.

This is particularly evident in this panel, Farm in Autumn. Robinson's preferred subject matter was the bucolic peace of the villages of Quebec. In his approach to this scene, he has applied a signature rhythm of shapes and colour with warm and cool hues that vibrate against each other.

In order to energize his composition, Robinson consciously exaggerates the depth of the cerulean sky and the complimentary gold foliage, implied by the exposed panel, to create drama in the upper half, while a field of jade green against chromatic reds anchors the lower half. Few artists took the same creative license with colour so successfully and the result is a tremendously lyrical and a joyous rendering of an autumn scene.