William Albert Sherwood, ARCA (Canadian, 1855-1919)
Portrait study of a Lady in a pink feathered evening dress, 1896
 
Oil painting on artist's board
Signed W. A. Sherwood and dated 1896 bottom right
 
Provenance:
Britnell's Art Galleries (Toronto); original gallery label to the reverse of frame
 
This early avant-garde Canadian Impressionist painting is likely a related study to the full length painting at The Art Gallery of Ontario titled 'Portrait of Mary Patterson' also dated 1896. Sherwood painted several works of Mary Patterson in 1896, another one being exhibited at The Royal Canadian Academy of Art that year. The quick Impressionist brush strokes and highly unusual pose of the sitter makes this painting a very forward-looking and early avant-garde work by a Canadian artist.
 
Born in Omemee, Ontario in 1855, Sherwood began his career as a poet working in the Kawartha Lakes, his works first published in 1881 by The Canadian Post. By 1886, The Canadian Post noted "that Mr. W. A. Sherwood, artist, has taken charge of the department of drawing, painting and perspective at the Toronto business college.”
 
Sherwood exhibited in Canada, Great Britain and the United States. He was one of the founders of the Central School of Art and Design of Toronto and the Anglo-Saxon Union. He served as president of the Progress Club of Toronto in 1898 and also of the Victoria County Old Boys’ Association. He was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy, and life member of the Canadian Institute. His paintings are in numerous important collections including The National Gallery of Canada and The Art Gallery of Ontario.
 
Painting measures 12 inches wide x 9.75 inches high
Frame measures 18 inches wide x 16 inches high