Lot 190: Emily Coonan 1885 - 1971 Canadian oil on canvas

Emily Coonan 1885 - 1971 Canadian oil on canvas Quebec Landscape 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and on verso titled on a label Provenance:Patricia Coonan, the Artist's sister Charlotte Tansey, Montreal A gift from Charlotte Tansey to the present Private Collection, Montreal, 1977 An early exponent of Canadian modernism, Emily Coonan first took art classes at Conseil des arts et manufactures, but her formative studies were later at the Art Association of Montreal. During this time, William Brymner became her teacher and, with his encouragement, Coonan and fellow artist Henrietta Mabel May traveled to France, Belgium and Holland in 1912. This trip allowed Coonan to see the work of the French Impressionists and greatly expanded her artistic horizons. She returned to France in 1920, enabled by a traveling grant awarded by the National Gallery of Canada. This trip proved to be significant, and subsequently her work began to indicate modernist sensibilities through increasingly simplified portraits and landscapes. Also in 1920, she became a member of the important Beaver Hall Group, and exhibited regularly at the Art Association of Montreal and the Royal Canadian Academy. Coonan frequently traveled to the Quebec countryside to paint en plein air, and this work illustrates her clear admiration of her surroundings. With its harmonious colour palette and simplified forms, Quebec Landscape is a charming work from this important female modernist.