Q & A

C.M. of St. Louis, Missouri writes:

I I lived in Toronto 8 years ago and purchased these 2 pencil drawings by A.J. Casson at auction.

The first is titled: Gibralter Point-Joe Lake-Algonquin Park 1977. The second is: Casson-Carmichael Camp Laker Superior 1928.

These are both in excellent condition and have been behind glass. The actual drawings are on drawing paper which measures 10.5 x 12.5. The framed size is 17.75" h x 21.75" w. In the several biographies I have read, A.J. Casson had only taken one trip to Lake Superior with Carmichael and this is the drawing of their camp. These are both signed original drawings.

I now live in St. Louis, Missouri and I know the appraisers aren't as knowledgeable about the group of seven as you are. Could you give me an approximate value?

We asked Gabrielle Peacock to respond:

Thank you for your inquiry.

Indeed Casson did make one trip to Lake Superior in 1928 in the company of Group of 7 members A.Y. Jackson, Franklin Carmichael and Lawren Harris. They built their campsite on bare rock face a few miles from the tiny village of Port Coldwell. Casson described the trip in a Convocation Address to the University of Toronto in 1975:

“…Jackson, Harris and Carmichael took me along for a two-week sketching trip. This time we camped in a spruce grove on the north shore of Lake Superior to get some protection from the wind. It did not go to zero this time but there was snow every night. Getting up in pitch dark at six in the morning with the tent loaded with snow was abit of a chore. If we didn’t get up at that time we would not be ready to start for the day’s work when daylight came. This was only one of such trips and wonderful. I only wish I could take it today”.

The North Shore landscape with its stark palate and grand vistas proved inspiring subject matter for Casson and resulted in some of his best work of the period.

The 1977 work of Algonquin Park, executed some 50 years later, depicts an area both familiar and dear to Casson and he had made numerous sketching trips in the vicinity over the years.

As to value for your works, I am afraid to give you some bad news. Based on the photographs, it appears you have reproductions of original drawings in the collection of the McMichael Canadian Collection in Kleinburg. Both images are also reproduced in Paul Duval’s, “A.J Casson His Life & Works/A Tribute” (Cerebrus Publishing Company, 1980). It is likely the McMichael reproduced these popular images and sold them through the gallery as decorative prints. Because they are straight reproductions with facsimile signatures we would estimate an auction value of under $100.00 each.