Bernice Fenwick Martin

'Down on the Farm in Lambton' Midcentury Oil Painting of Rural Landscape

Capturing a summer day at a farm, this barn painting lets the viewer peek in at the daily life of a rural agriculturist. Fenwick Martin uses the contrast of the barn interior and the...

This fall landscape features a lake outside of Burk's Falls, Ontario near where the artist lived. Painted towards the end of Lawrence Nickle's life, the landscape demonstrates his mastery over his craft of plein air painting. Working in a sketch size Nickle was able to capture the textures of the landscape and the vivid fall colours. Artist Bio: Born in 1931 in Toronto, Ontario, Lawrence Nickle rose to prominence as a Canadian painter, draftsman and educator. He studied under John Alfsen, Rowley Murphy and George Pepper at the Ontario College of Art, graduating in 1954. He is well known for his oil on board en plein air paintings in which he depicted Ontario wilderness and rural life. The areas around his home of Burk’s Falls, Lake Superior and Lake Huron featured in many of his works, celebrating the Canadian Landscape. Lawrence Nickel is well known in the communities of Wawa, Kenora, and Huntsville as an arts advocate and teacher. He passed away in his home of Burk’s Falls in 2014 at the age of 82. Nickle’s work can be found in many private and corporate collections, including that of the late Ken Thompson.

Romantic landscape, oil on panel. A saw mill is viewed from across a rapid river in this delightful scene near Woodbridge, Ontario, by Bernice Martin. Title, date on verso. This painting is unframed. Woodbridge, Ontario, is a settlement named in 1855 after a wooden bridge that crossed the Humber River as an entry point into the town. Martin's work is rooted in the post-Impressionist, atmospheric landscape style made well known by J.W. Beatty a forerunner to the Group of Seven. “I look back on my life and my painting hours were the happiest. I’d spend long hours and forget time…my time was always measured by the passage of light.” —Bernice Fenwick Martin Born in Shelburne, Ontario, Bernice Martin studied at the Ontario College of Art under noted Canadian artists J.W. Beatty and Franklin Carmichael. After the death of Beatty in 1941, she found friendship in Peter Clapham Sheppard with whom she studied and worked with until his death in 1965. Working in oil, watercolor and woodcut, Martin focused on local scenes such as the Toronto harbor, small towns in Ontario and Northern landscapes including Muskoka, Haliburton, and Algonquin Park regions of Ontario. Martin’s works were showcased at the Royal Canadian Academy from 1945-1947 and displayed in solo exhibitions in Toronto galleries throughout her career at T. Eaton Co...

This expressive landscape painting by Albert Mascaux (1900-1963) captures a rural scene with rustic farmhouses nestled amongst skeletal trees. The muted earth tones and loose brushwo...