Lot 62: Alexander Colville 1920 - Canadian watercolour and

Alexander Colville 1920 - Canadian watercolour and graphite on paper West Cappelle, Belgium 11 1/4 x 9 inches 28.6 x 22.9 centimeters signed, titled, dated 2 Nov 1944 and inscribed with colour notations in graphite Literature:Tom Smart, Alex Colville: Return, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2003, page 24 Provenance:Private Collection, Ontario Private Collection, Vancouver In May of 1942, Alex Colville enlisted in the Canadian Armoured Corps. After two years of army service, he was appointed a Canadian war artist in the spring of 1944, recording the events of World War II. Stationed in England, he trained to work with watercolour, bringing to his subjects the cool and observant eye for which he would become so well known in his Realist paintings. In October of 1944 he was transferred to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, on its way to Belgium, Holland and Germany. Colville made drawings and watercolours in the field, and this fluid, atmospheric watercolour is from a more peaceful time in his war experience when, as he related, "everyday I would go out with this jeep and driver, and anything I saw that was interesting I would make a drawing or watercolour of it." Once Colville had crossed Holland's Nijmegen Bridge, a more sombre mood dominated, as he and his company entered the zone of the war's destruction. Much of Colville's work as a war artist is in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, making this watercolour rare to the market.