Emily Carr
BCSFA CGP
1871 - 1945
Canadian
Crécy-en-Brie
oil on canvas, 1911
signed M. Carr and on verso titled “A House in Brittany” on a gallery label and inscribed “CN” and “35”
18 x 14 in, 45.7 x 35.6 cm
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary
LITERATURE
Emily Carr, Growing Pains: The Autobiography of Emily Carr, 1946, pages 265 – 266
Kiriko Watanabe et al., Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing—French Modernism and the West Coast, Audain Art Museum, 2019, page 26
In 1910, Emily Carr traveled to Paris, embarking on a major phase in her artistic development. She remained in France for 15 months, studying with expatriate teachers—John Duncan Fergusson, Harry Phelan Gibb and Frances Mary Hodgkins—who introduced her to contemporary European art movements. The training she received transformed her work irrevocably, moving her away from academic naturalism towards bolder colour, more direct brushwork, and a modern sense of structure and space that would become hallmarks of her remarkable body of work.
While the early months of Carr’s time in France were marked by illness, in the spring of 1911 she joined an outdoor landscape class led by Gibb in Crécy-en-Brie (now Crécy-la-Chapelle), about 45 kilometres east of Paris. Most of Carr’s French paintings were sold after her death, and many now carry attributed titles assigned by Max Stern or later owners, which can be imprecise. In the case of this canvas, although a label notes Brittany, the scene is more likely Crécy-en-Brie, with its distinctive canal. In her autobiography Growing Pains, Carr describes the village and its lively atmosphere:
The women did their laundry here, and were very merry about it. Shrill voices, boisterous laughter, twisted in and out between the stone walls of the canal. Lovely trees drooped over the walls to dabble their branches … while the women laughed and chatted, and the water gave back soapy reflections of their rosy faces and white coifs.
Carr’s concentrated period of study in Crécy-en-Brie marked a decisive shift in her work. At the time, Gibb was painting in a Fauvist style, using bright pigments and expressive brushwork, and his teaching proved transformative. As Carr recalled, as quoted in the Fresh Seeing catalogue, “That session with Harry Gibb down in Crécy-en-Brie awoke me.” Freed from the constraints of naturalism, she began to express herself more brilliantly. She moved from a largely representational approach towards a more impressionistic style, painting with bold, vivid colours and a vigorous, textured brush-stroke.
In this lush, intriguing canvas, Carr’s deep affection for Crécy-en-Brie and her evolving artistic voice are immediately evident. The scene pulses with vitality: the descending steps, billowing greenery and reflective water surface are alive and intertwined, each element rendered distinct and vibrant. In the distance, a small pink and white house is mirrored in the still water, evoking the gentle rhythms of rural French life. The canvas’s perspective is charmingly imperfect, lending the composition warmth and immediacy. The true star of the work is its rich, distinctive palette: soft, pastel greens and turquoise accented with pinks and creams, applied with confident modernist expression and a striking sense of fullness. Together, these elements reveal an artist boldly experimenting—absorbing modernist lessons while maintaining her personal vision.
Later that summer, Carr moved on to Saint-Éfflam on the Brittany coast. Painting the region’s cottages and coastal villages, she relished the time outdoors and enjoyed her new-found artistic freedom. In November 1911, two of Carr’s canvases were accepted for exhibition at the prestigious Salon d’Automne in Paris, confirming her engagement with and relevance to contemporary European artistic movements. When she returned to Canada in 1912, she mounted a studio exhibition of 70 watercolours and oils from her French sojourn, becoming the first artist to introduce Fauvist-inflected modernism to Vancouver and Canada.
Her experience in France gave Carr the artistic tools and assurance she needed; armed with a liberated palette and expressive brush, she was ready to create the brilliant 1912 canvases depicting First Nations subjects that would define the next, monumental phase of her career.
We thank Kathryn Bridge, contributing author to Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing—French Modernism and the West Coast, for her assistance in researching this lot. Listen Stop
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.
BCSFA CGP
1871 - 1945
Canadian
Crécy-en-Brie
oil on canvas, 1911
signed M. Carr and on verso titled “A House in Brittany” on a gallery label and inscribed “CN” and “35”
18 x 14 in, 45.7 x 35.6 cm
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary
LITERATURE
Emily Carr, Growing Pains: The Autobiography of Emily Carr, 1946, pages 265 – 266
Kiriko Watanabe et al., Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing—French Modernism and the West Coast, Audain Art Museum, 2019, page 26
In 1910, Emily Carr traveled to Paris, embarking on a major phase in her artistic development. She remained in France for 15 months, studying with expatriate teachers—John Duncan Fergusson, Harry Phelan Gibb and Frances Mary Hodgkins—who introduced her to contemporary European art movements. The training she received transformed her work irrevocably, moving her away from academic naturalism towards bolder colour, more direct brushwork, and a modern sense of structure and space that would become hallmarks of her remarkable body of work.
While the early months of Carr’s time in France were marked by illness, in the spring of 1911 she joined an outdoor landscape class led by Gibb in Crécy-en-Brie (now Crécy-la-Chapelle), about 45 kilometres east of Paris. Most of Carr’s French paintings were sold after her death, and many now carry attributed titles assigned by Max Stern or later owners, which can be imprecise. In the case of this canvas, although a label notes Brittany, the scene is more likely Crécy-en-Brie, with its distinctive canal. In her autobiography Growing Pains, Carr describes the village and its lively atmosphere:
The women did their laundry here, and were very merry about it. Shrill voices, boisterous laughter, twisted in and out between the stone walls of the canal. Lovely trees drooped over the walls to dabble their branches … while the women laughed and chatted, and the water gave back soapy reflections of their rosy faces and white coifs.
Carr’s concentrated period of study in Crécy-en-Brie marked a decisive shift in her work. At the time, Gibb was painting in a Fauvist style, using bright pigments and expressive brushwork, and his teaching proved transformative. As Carr recalled, as quoted in the Fresh Seeing catalogue, “That session with Harry Gibb down in Crécy-en-Brie awoke me.” Freed from the constraints of naturalism, she began to express herself more brilliantly. She moved from a largely representational approach towards a more impressionistic style, painting with bold, vivid colours and a vigorous, textured brush-stroke.
In this lush, intriguing canvas, Carr’s deep affection for Crécy-en-Brie and her evolving artistic voice are immediately evident. The scene pulses with vitality: the descending steps, billowing greenery and reflective water surface are alive and intertwined, each element rendered distinct and vibrant. In the distance, a small pink and white house is mirrored in the still water, evoking the gentle rhythms of rural French life. The canvas’s perspective is charmingly imperfect, lending the composition warmth and immediacy. The true star of the work is its rich, distinctive palette: soft, pastel greens and turquoise accented with pinks and creams, applied with confident modernist expression and a striking sense of fullness. Together, these elements reveal an artist boldly experimenting—absorbing modernist lessons while maintaining her personal vision.
Later that summer, Carr moved on to Saint-Éfflam on the Brittany coast. Painting the region’s cottages and coastal villages, she relished the time outdoors and enjoyed her new-found artistic freedom. In November 1911, two of Carr’s canvases were accepted for exhibition at the prestigious Salon d’Automne in Paris, confirming her engagement with and relevance to contemporary European artistic movements. When she returned to Canada in 1912, she mounted a studio exhibition of 70 watercolours and oils from her French sojourn, becoming the first artist to introduce Fauvist-inflected modernism to Vancouver and Canada.
Her experience in France gave Carr the artistic tools and assurance she needed; armed with a liberated palette and expressive brush, she was ready to create the brilliant 1912 canvases depicting First Nations subjects that would define the next, monumental phase of her career.
We thank Kathryn Bridge, contributing author to Emily Carr: Fresh Seeing—French Modernism and the West Coast, for her assistance in researching this lot. Listen Stop
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.
