Lot 200: Albert Henry Robinson 1881 - 1956 Canadian oil on board Drying Clothes, Brittany

Albert Henry Robinson 1881 - 1956 Canadian oil on board Drying Clothes, Brittany
8 1/2 x 10 5/8 inches 21.6 x 27 centimeters signed and dated 1911 and on verso titled on the artist's label and titled Drying Clothes, St. Malo Literature:A.Y. Jackson, A Painter's Country, The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson, 1958, page 18
Provenance:An Important Private Estate, Toronto On September 24, 1911, Albert Robinson left Montreal for France, accompanied by Group of Seven painter A.Y. Jackson. This was Robinson's second trip - he had previously gone to Paris in 1903 to study at the Académie Julian and the Académie des beaux-arts, spending two summers sketching in Normandy. Jackson and Robinson's first destination in 1911 was Saint-Malo, the location of this sunwashed sketch, where they stayed with the Garnier family while they explored the town and its ramparts overlooking the harbour. They spent four months sketching outdoors together here and at Carhaix.
This charming view of washerwomen at work clearly shows the influence of the Impressionists that Robinson had absorbed, with its daubs of pastel pigment and emphasis on atmosphere. Jackson claimed that he learned much from Robinson - admiring the fact that Robinson "would sit and wait for effects of light" to transmute his subject. Indeed, it is the quality of light that is so extraordinary here - the sensation of sunlight transforms this everyday scene into a symphony of pastel colour and light.