Occasional Painting — Pine Tree and Red House, Winter, City Painting II
by Lawren Harris (1885-1970)
Pine Tree and Red House, Winter, City Painting II (1924)
oil on canvas, 81.3 x 96.5 cm
History: Art Gallery of Toronto, Lawren Harris, 1948, catalogue #35, National Gallery of Canada, Paintings in Ottawa Collections, April 19 – May 6, 1959.
I’ve always loved the look of Lawren Harris’ art. When viewed in person, they almost seem to glow from the inside. And his work is always distinctive – bold colours, simple, clean lines. His depictions of Lake Superior, or the Rocky mountains, or of the Canadian Arctic, have a kind of spiritual resonance.
This painting just sold at auction for a record price of 2.9 million. This is the most that anyone has ever paid for a Lawren Harris, and it’s now second in the all-time price-list for Canadian art – the top money-maker being Paul Kane’s Scene from the Northwest – Portrait, which sold for $5.063-million in 2002.
As reported in the Globe and Mail, the painting did so well because of two elements: “the red and the snow”. Geez, if that’s all it takes to sell a painting, who needs a university degree? Why didn’t somebody tell me!!
Other works, including sketches by Tom Thomson and A. Y. Jackson, also fetched ridiculously high prices.tniapcco llewopemearg
I love Harris’s Toronto paintings too. Especially the winter ones. Like this one.
I have always loved Lawren Harris more than the the other six ! Yes, there is a vast spiritual quality, as though consciousness and the great spirit meet in the cool open spaces he depicts. I also love it that he was Emily Carr’s friend. Though very different painters, they both seem to have had a deep connection to nature.
this is his best, i think, awesome colors
This is a very touching piece of art work! It reminds me of peace; just a single house all on its own, with a tree in front of it. I like the affect of the snow in winter! Most of all it looks… REALISTIC! So, for my project on Lawren Harris, Idecided to draw this painting, and my drawing does look beautiful.
I first saw some Lawren Harris paintings when I was fifteen. I have never forgotten the feeling of total awe. I still am infatuated with his work forty years after seeing the paintings at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. His Toronto house series are so wonderful. This one looks like a Japanese woodcut. I love it!
Cool
Excellent paintings. Its really wonderful, I like fine arts too. Thank you for your very nice posting.
can anyone help me with information about this painting? i need it for an art project.
What you read is what you get. Although I hear the internet is a handy source for information these days…
Just beautiful. Doing research with my daughter. A delightful painting.
Can someone help me with the story of this paintaing asap.
I am doing a art research to be completed by tomorrow’s art class.
Thank you.
Hmm, looks like I’m a little late. Something tells me though that you should have started your research a little earlier. That and I think the story of this painting is pretty explicit. It’s a red house with snow…what more could one possibly want to know?