Lot 136: HAROLD WELLINGTON MCCREA (1887-1969) OIL ON BOARD

Harold Wellington McCrea (Canada, 1887-1969) "On The Alert" Oil on Board, signed lower left. In carved wood and gesso frame in frame measures 29"x35"x3". Weight 13 pds. PROVENANCE: A Charleston SC Private Collection.. NO IN HOUSE SHIPPING.***Pickup only or Shipping on this item offered through Pak Mail 843-849-0310 - info@charlestonshipping.com , Quik Mail Etc 843-723-6598 quikmailetc@gmail.com, Outward Bound 413-854-3676, or locally AJ Williams & Sons 843-442-0462. Please contact one of them or your own choice of shipper directly. **** Harold Wellington McCrea was a painter, graphic artist, cartoonist and illustrator. He was born in Peterborough, Ontario (60 miles east of Toronto), and died in Toronto, Ontario where he had lived and worked most of his life. His formal art education includes studies at the Ontario School of Art (c. before 1910) and the Art Institute of Chicago (c.1918 - 1920). He also took private lessons with William Cruikshank. He worked from 1910 to 1914 at the commercial art and design firm Grip Limited (Toronto) where he would have associated with future Group of Seven* members J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frank Johnston, Frederick Varley and Franklin Carmichael as well as Tom Thomson, all of whom worked there during the same years . He also worked for a newspaper in Alberta from 1914 to 1917 where his duties included being a cartoonist. When he returned to Toronto in about 1920, he opened his own studio and worked as a freelance commercial artist and painter for the rest of his life. In addition to exhibiting with the above organizations he also exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1938. His paintings are in several public collections including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), La Pulperie Museum (Chicoutimi, Quebec), Beaulne Museum (Coaticook, Québec) and the Western Development Museum (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan). However, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, which shows a total of 53 Harold McCrea works in museums across Canada, indicates that the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), with 49, has by far the largest collection

good, minor wear to frame