SUMMARY: Vintage Mid-Century serigraph of ‘Road to the Village’ by Tom Roberts (1908-1998), produced for the Favourite Subjects series by the Canadian graphic art company Sampson-Matthews Ltd. (1918-1980).
DESCRIPTION: Depicted are four children walking down a slushy rural road in winter towards two children coming out of a grouping of wood buildings.
MARKINGS: identified in margin lower left, “PAINTED BY TOM ROBERTS A.R.C.A.”
DIMENSIONS: 30” high x 45” wide; 35” high x 45” wide (framed)
CONDITION: Very Good Vintage Condition. For accuracy: the cardstock has bowed some from moisture as is common on these serigraphs as a result of the structural material; there are a couple light scuffs as is also common on Sampson-Matthews prints. The frame is original.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: ROBERTS, Tom (1909-1998) Born in 1909, Tom Roberts was the grandson of Samuel Roberts, founder of Roberts Gallery (1842). Having spent much time in the gallery during his youth, Tom resolved at an early age to become an artist. He studied art at Toronto’s Central Technical School and at the Ontario College of Art under such well-known artists as J.W. Beatty and Fred Haines.
His influences included Beatty and the Group of Seven. While in military service during the World War II, he portrayed army life in pencil and watercolour sketches. After the war he painted landscapes at many locations as he traveled across the country. In the mid-1980s he held over 30 one-man exhibitions in Toronto alone.
