Elizabeth Harrison (Canada, 1907-2001)
‘Rock Pool’ c. October, 1971
oil on masonite
(actual): 15 ⅝” high x 11 ⅝” wide
(framed): 16 ⅞” high x 12 ⅞” wide
Summary: Energetic Mid-Century Canadian oil on masonite micro-landscape painting titled ‘Rock Pool’ by listed artist Edith Elizabeth Harrison (Canada, 1907-2001), circa October 1971. “In 1971 the artist Charles Comfort opened her exhibition ‘Canadian Microcosms: A Landscape is its Rocks’ by proclaiming her work, ‘objective paintings of exceptional originality, a new and magnificent apprehension of nature’.” This artwork was exhibited in that exhibition. Here executed is a close-up study of a rock pool, its contours abstracted through its containment and its matter energized through the contrasting hot and cold colours.
Notes: “The [painter’s] ability to reproduce a given object with photographic accuracy is not the only criterion of good art. … Though when one says ‘like,’ one usually means visually like, there are other ways of identifying objects. What about like by atmosphere, like in sound, like by touch, like by smell; to say nothing of more abstract tests, which are best made by saying, ‘what does the picture convey?” ~ Elizabeth Harrison, Self-Expression Through Art, 1951
Markings: signed lower right, “ELIZABETH HARRISON”, titled and dated verso “Rock Pool” “October 71”
Condition: Excellent Vintage Condition – undamaged with no restoration. Presented in the original frame it is ready for display.
Provenance: Exhibited, ‘Canadian Microcosms: A Landscape Is Its Rocks’, 1971
