Sale of Madill paintings fund arts group expansion
'Wholesale price' for works by contemporary of the Group of Seven
A rare gift and public sale of 409 oil paintings by a late contemporary of Canada's Group of Seven is breathing new life and possibilities into the north Etobicoke art group that sparked the artist's painting career.
After their mother's death two years ago, Gordon and Fred Hutchison found hundreds of their "Pappy" Fred Cecil Madill's oil paintings - musty and spider web-strewn - in the basement of the two-bedroom bungalow Madill built in 1952.
There, the paintings had remained ever since Madill had completed their final brush strokes.
Not knowing what to do with the paintings - the family already owns about 100 Madills and "you only have so much wall space" - the brothers approached Franklin Carmichael Art Group (FCAG), where Madill had painted under the guidance of teachers and artists for nearly 20 years.
The arts group is selling Madill's paintings to fund an expansion of its Thistletown centre.
"We hope it helps the art group put the proceeds to a good use," Gordon Hutchison said in an interview from his Ottawa home. "We're delighted his paintings are being distributed and being appreciated. It's a good memorial to my grandfather. He would have been just overwhelmed by the display."
That display is a retrospective of 160 of the Madill oil paintings, on exhibit and for sale to the public indefinitely at Westmount Gallery Ltd. on Advance Road in south Etobicoke. Already, 40 Madill paintings have sold since the show opened last month.
"(Madill) is someone who spent a lifetime painting delightful Ontario scenes. It's an opportunity to purchase works by a Canadian artist at a really, really good price," Westmount Gallery owner Judy Smith said of the paintings, on sale for either $250 or $350 each, depending on size.
Smith has run the gallery - which boasts works by 350 Canadian artists - for 31 years, and donated the show, as well as the restoration and framing of Madill's paintings to FCAG.
FCAG principals were over the moon at the Hutchisons' unusual gift.
"We thought there would be a few paintings. But when we went over to the house to see them, it was unbelievable," said Catharine deMontmorency, FCAG's administrator. "A lot of them are really very good. We had them appraised and were told it was really worth doing something with them."
Madill's style is strong, bold and free, and depicts the character of the rugged landscapes in Ontario, where the "plein air" (meaning open air or painting on location) artist travelled spring, summer, fall and winter throughout the '50s and '60s.
In fact, Madill died in 1969 during one such painting trip to Burks Falls, Ont. He was 81.
Hutchison described his grandfather as a "quiet and gentle man, a very interesting guy and quite a bright chap," who took up painting landscapes as a hobby in his retirement years, after a career as a teacher, a journalist and lastly, part owner of W.R. Draper Co., a music publishing firm in Weston.
Artistically, Madill counted The Group of Seven's A.Y. Jackson among his influences.
"My understanding is he attended at least one Master class with A.Y. Jackson, and may have gone on the occasional day trip painting with him," Hutchison said. "His style is of that class and that kind of painting."
Dr. Ann Curtin founded FCAG in 1952, and Madill, who lived nearby, is believed to have joined shortly thereafter. Upon her death in 1977, Curtin bequeathed her house and property at 34 Riverdale Dr. to the art group.
But today, the space is simply too small to meet demand.
"We're in desperate need of renovation and expansion," deMontmorency said. "We can't offer the quality and quantity of programs demanded of us because of our size and capacity."
FCAG offers both adult and children's art classes in watercolours, oil and acrylic painting, life drawing, introduction to fine art, portrait classes, as well as cartooning and animation.
Toronto District School Board officials have requested FCAG provide space for visual arts training for north Etobicoke students. And the addition of a small gallery would create new permanent gallery space for Toronto artists.
Presently, the art group is in discussions with the City of Toronto culture division about how to cost-share the expansion project, deMontmorency said. The cost could reach $1.5 million.
Interest in Madill's paintings has been brisk from arts dealers, but deMontmorency said the group wants to offer them for sale first to members of the public. One collector from Aurora purchased a few Madills, and said he wouldn't sell one for less than $3,900, she said.
"These paintings are definitely at a wholesale price. We're really hoping to let the community have a good crack at them before we sell many to arts dealers."
deMontmorency said she plans to tour some of the Madill paintings perhaps this summer and fall at art galleries in Elliot Lake, Haliburton, Huntsville and Algonquin Park, among the many places Madill captured on canvas. But, she said, the bulk of the paintings will remain on display and for sale at Westmount Gallery.
