Lot 127: Sir Frederick Grant Banting 1891 - 1941 Canadian

Sir Frederick Grant Banting 1891 - 1941 Canadian oil on panel Northern Landscape 10 3/8 x 13 1/2 inches 26.3 x 34.3 centimeters signed Provenance:Johnson Art Galleries, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal Sir Frederick Banting led a remarkable life. As a world renowned researcher and medical doctor, he was widely known. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and became the first Canadian ever to receive the prestigious award. Less known by the public were Banting's accomplishments as an artist. The creative aspect of art and the travels he would partake in with Group of Seven member A.Y. Jackson aided him greatly when he was confronted with his rigorous and gruelling research schedule comprised of long nights in the laboratory. Art was an escape, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and he was very talented. His body of work became a visual and enduring legacy of his love for Canada and his own personal legacy as a revered Canadian. Jackson and Banting made early and frequent trips to the province of Quebec. Jackson introduced Banting to the Laurentians in winter around La Malbaie and Baie-Saint-Paul. This scene, most likely painted in late summer or early autumn, could be either northern Ontario or Quebec, and is a testament to Banting's consummate skill as an artist. On verso of the work is a loose pencil sketch of a native figure with the outline of an Indian headdress.