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Arthur Lismer 1885 - 1969 Canadian oil on panel Autumn River 9 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches 23.5 x 31.1 centimeters initialed and on verso signed Literature:Lois Darroch, Bright Land: A Warm Look at Arthur Lismer, 1981, page 23 Dennis Reid, editor, Tom Thomson, essay by Charles C. Hill, Art Gallery of Ontario / National Gallery of Canada, 2002, page 124 Provenance:Private Collection, Toronto It was well known that the Group of Seven liked to paint together, often commuting long distances to seek the vast space of Canada's northern wilderness. Of these northern locations, Georgian Bay and Algonquin Park were two of their most beloved areas. In 1914, Tom Thomson introduced A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Lawren Harris to his favourite lakes of the Algonquin region, and Canoe, Smoke and Ragged Lakes were certainly visited. We know that Lismer accompanied Thomson twice to the Algonquin region, in the spring of 1914 and again in the fall. Though this painting is not dated, certainly it was painted after Lismer's first trip to Algonquin when he changed his format to a 9 x 12 inch panel to accommodate the sketch boxes they used on their treks. Lismer recalls of this formidable trip with Thomson that "we made camp on a little island on Smoke Lake.....[and] made excursions in all directions into corners and little lakes." This beautiful fall sketch bears a strong resemblance in compositional layout to Thomson's Smoke Lake, sold at Heffel's in November 2007. This panel is from a very seminal and formative time when these four artists "each could work separately, but proximity reinforced their efforts and sparked their creative urges. More importantly, they were letting the country speak to them instead of imposing an academic painting method on the landscape."