Morning, Lake Superior

The Art Association of Montreal (now the MMFA) acquired this painting in 1939, on the occasion of its 56th Spring Exhibition, in which 345 paintings were put on display. The critic Robert Ayre, who found the assemblage of works tedious, did draw a distinction in the case of “Lawren Harris’ calm Lake Superior, with its pure light. In it you have the Canada that is going out of fashion but that is still here and still profoundly stirring, the remote Canada without people.” This canvas is a wonderful example of the artist’s practice in the 1920s; beginning in the mid-1930s, Harris would create abstract works.