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October - Cape Breton

York Wilson

BIRTH YEAR 1907
BIRTH PLACE Toronto, Ontario
DEATH YEAR 1984
DEATH PLACE Toronto, Ontario

Here, Canadian artist York Wilson depicts the bright autumn foliage of an October landscape in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Can you make out the trees and the reflective body of water in the foreground? Capturing light and color with thick brushstrokes and layered patches of paint, the semi-abstract work recalls Wilson’s career-long exploration in abstraction, and reveals his lifelong interest in conjuring the essence of a place through form, color, and texture.

MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATE 1980
DIMENSIONS 40.6cm x 30.5cm x 0.3cm
ACCESSION NUMBER FAC 1549
CREDIT LINE Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, the Ottawa Art Gallery. Donated to the City of Ottawa by the Ontario Heritage Foundation
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
An autumn landscape is depicted with thick, fuzzy brushstrokes of paint in browns, ochre, blue and white, with a few orange and red accents. Trees surround a body of water in the middle ground, with a blue sky with white clouds in it peeking through the trees. In the foreground there are a few small branches with sparse yellow and orange foliage.

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