Lot 185: William Percival (W.P.) Weston 1879 - 1967

William Percival (W.P.) Weston 1879 - 1967 Canadian oil on canvas Windswept Fir - Albert Head, Vancouver Island 23 x 27 inches 58.4 x 68.6 centimeters signed and on verso signed, titled and dated 1953 Literature:Letia Richardson, The Silence and Solitude, The Art of W.P. Weston, Richmond Art Gallery, 1993, page 11 Provenance:Collection of the Artist, Vancouver Private Collection, Vancouver Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 18, 1999, lot 31 Private Collection, USA One of W.P. Weston's great themes was that of trees, and this transcendent panorama of an ancient fir clinging to a rocky cliff overlooking the sea is a superb example. Weston stated, "I like the trees that have had a struggle, and that's why I like to paint the trees along the seashore and up on the mountains. They're like people who have had to fight to live; they've developed character." Reminiscent of Japanese bonsai, here nature itself has shaped and trimmed this tree into a striking work of art. Weston sought out these beautiful and desolate scenes; he did not put people in his paintings, feeling that nature was enough. His strong sense of design is imbued in every element. The swirling rings of the sea's tidal movement, the distant mountains on the horizon, the arching movement of the sky to the focal point of the wind-sculpted tree create a stunning scene. In 1937, Weston produced a larger canvas of this scene entitled Windswept (Old Fir, Albert Head). He must have found it compelling to paint it once more.