Lot 134
ROBERT REGINALD WHALE, O.S.A., A.R.C.A.
Provenance:
G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto
The Mr. and Mrs. Jules Loeb Collection, Lucerne, Quebec
Private Collection, Guelph
Literature:
J. Russell Harper, Painting in Canada, University of Toronto, 1966, page 142 and page 143, plate 129, reproduced in colour (full page).
Pierre Theberge, The Mr. and Mrs. Jules Loeb Collection, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1970, cat.no.51.
Exhibited:
The Mr. and Mrs. Jules Loeb Collection, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 15 October–15 November, 1970, no.51. Also shown at Sir George Williams University, Montreal; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg; University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon; The Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor; Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke and The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton.
Note:
“Stonehouse” stood high above the Aylmer Road in Lucerne, Quebec and looked across the Ottawa River at the nation’s capital. This Tudor greystone home of Mr. and Mrs. Jules Loeb became a familiar landmark since the Loebs moved into the house about 1958. Mrs. Loeb began assembling a collection of paintings in 1953 that has been described by leading art authorities as one of the most important private collections of Canadian Art.
In her preface to the 1970 National Gallery of Canada catalogue, the Director, Jean Sutherland Boggs wrote that the Loeb collection was “undoubtedly one of the finest private collections of Canadian Art in this country. This collection has been built up over the years with one purpose in mind: to create a record of the history of Canadian Art through the very best examples available. Such an aim, usually the preserve of public galleries and museums, has rarely been accomplished by private collectors.”
This major canvas by Whale captured popular and widespread attention according to Harper, as it “combined the romantic element of the great falls with pride in the new railways which heralded a wealthier age.”