Laura Adeline Muntz, O.S.A., A.R.C.A., PORTRAIT STUDY OF TWO CHILDREN IN AN ORCHARD, oil on canvas, 35.5 ins x 23.5 ins; 90.2 cms x 59.7 cms

Lot description

LAURA ADELINE MUNTZ, O.S.A., A.R.C.A.PORTRAIT STUDY OF TWO CHILDREN IN AN ORCHARDoil on canvassigned 35.5 ins x 23.5 ins; 90.2 cms x 59.7 cms Provenance:Private Collection, OntarioLiterature:Paul Duval, Impressionism in Canada, McClelland and Stewart Inc., Toronto, 1990, page 50.Note:Laura Muntz resided in Paris from 1891-1898 and it was here that she fell under the spell of Impressionism, adopting its open brushwork and sunlit themes to her own purposes. In Paris she would have had access to works by the great Impressionists of the day and Paul Duval speculates that she may well have seen the 1893 one-woman exhibition of Mary Cassatt's work at Durand-Ruel. Duval quotes Muntz, who bore no children of her own, passionately declaring that she "had only two hobbies -  painting and children. I don't know which I am fonder of."  While we are uncertain of the identity of the children Muntz paints here with such tenderness, it is clear that her two declared hobbies come together in this single work, resulting in one of the finest double portraits by Muntz to have appeared at auction.