Provenance
Laing Galleries, Toronto;
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc.;
Exhibited
Important Canadian Art: Exhibition and Sale, Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal, 2007
Already established as a Canadian artist of note, Maurice Cullen converted from a traditional Academic style – in which he had several years of training – to an Impressionistic, light-infused approach, almost immediately upon his arrival in Paris in 1887. His interest was specific to the Impressionist’s approach to brushwork and to colour, the first of which was free and loose and wild by comparison to Canadian standards, and the latter of which allowed him to explore reflection, shadow, and atmosphere in new ways. He took these traits back with him to Canada when he returned in 1895, where he applied them to his subjects.
Primarily a landscape painter, The Cache River and the Little Cache River were regular haunts of his, and he painted there in all seasons, bringing his Impressionistic sensibilities to the Quebec landscape. He was a quintessential plein air painter, working out-of-doors year round, even in the coldest of winters, when long periods spent stationary in pursuit of a subject would have been a significant challenge.
Maurice Galbraith Cullen, painter (b at St John’s 6 June 1866; d at Chambly, Qué 28 Mar 1934). Cullen moved to Montréal with his family in 1870. There he began his art training as a sculptor at the Conseil des arts et manufactures and with sculptor Louis-Philippe HÉBERT. Like other…
Maurice Galbraith Cullen, painter (b at St John’s 6 June 1866; d at Chambly, Qué 28 Mar 1934). Cullen moved to Montréal with his family in 1870. There he began his art training as a sculptor at the Conseil des arts et manufactures and with sculptor Louis-Philippe HÉBERT. Like other artists of his generation, he went to Paris for additional training. He arrived there in 1889 and decided to become a painter; he attended the École des beaux-arts, studying, like Paul PEEL, with Jean-Léon Gérôme, then with Élie Delaunay.
By 1895, when Cullen returned to Montréal, he had darkened the tonality of the impressionist style learned abroad. In time he became the true interpreter of Montréal’s cityscape, particularly of night or dusk scenes, invariably with shimmering lights. He was also one of Canada’s great painters of snow. Like his colleague and friend James Wilson MORRICE, Cullen was a major figure in Canadian art. His gift was that of a romantic – an ability to capture light and mood. Some of his work was influenced by William Blair Bruce, whom Cullen often visited in Gréz 1892-94. Cullen in turn influenced many by teaching for years at the Art Association of Montreal. He showed in the first exhibition of the Canadian Art Club, an advanced group of the period, and was made a member in 1910.
