DISCOVERY

LAWREN S. HARRIS, 1885-1970, Canadian

Decorative Landscape with Barn ( circa 1916-17)

Oil on pressed board

18 x 14 inches / 45.5 x 35.5 cm

Not signed

Inscribed (verso) under paper backing: “gift from Lawren Harris” in pencil, at bottom; framers notes in pencil, scattered. The inscription does not appear to be in Harris’s hand and was probably added by an owner at a later time than the circa dates.

Authentication

Discovered and first attributed in 1993 by Fred R. Kline.  Dr. Jeremy Adamson, in 1993, provisonally authenticated the painting from a transparency.  In August 2002, Adamson examined the actual painting and gave his unqualified support to Harris authorship and placed it among Harris's important early works. (Written expertise on request.)

Primary Reference:  Jeremy Adamson, Lawren S. Harris: Urban Scenes and Wilderness Landscapes, 1906-1930. Exhibition Catalogue (331 pp.). Art Gallery of Ontario, 1978.

Provenance

Art Market, Buffalo, NY until 1979 (as unknown artist).

Note: a framer’s sticker on the original paper backing, possibly ca. 1920s-30s, read: M.W. Forsyth Co. Philadelphia, Since 1885.

Private Collection (as unknown artist)

Fred R. Kline Gallery, Santa Fe (here first attributed to Harris)

Corporate Collection, Canada

Exhibition

“Lawren Harris: Master of the Plein Air Landscape”, Fred R. Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, July 1999 [Lecture & Exhibition only].

Publication

"Lawren Harris, Decorative Landscape with Barn ( circa 1916-17)" : www.klinegallery.com from 1999.

Sold to a Canadian corporate collection