The Strait of Belle Isle, 1958
Inscriptions
signed, ‘Surrey’ (lower right); signed, inscribed and dated, ‘P. SURREY / EXPO: “Paysages d’hiver et d’aujourd’hui” / 23 april au 18 oct. 1976’ (verso, upper left)Provenance
Galerie Gilles Corbeil, Montreal.
Kastel Gallery Inc., Westmount, Quebec.
Private Collection, Côte-Saint-Luc, Quebec.
Expositions
Montreal, Galerie Gilles Corbeil, Paysages D’hier et d’aujourd’hui, April 23 - October 18, 1976.
“Each individual is alone, cut off. Each wonders how others cope with life. A work of art is a particularly complex statement, valuable because packed with meaning... Like icebergs, four-fifths of our personalities lie below the surface; of the fifth that shows, only part can be expressed in conversation. The only effective outlet for all deeper feelings and thoughts is art."
In 1958, Surrey was invited to go on the icebreaker, d’Iberville heading for Resolute Bay. “I began painting 6 x 8 oil sketches and soon ran out of panels. The ship’s carpenter made me some more from plywood tea chests. The colours of sea and sky and icebergs ranged from coldly subtle to harshly brilliant.”
_________
Margaret Surrey, Biographical notes of Philip Surrey, Philip and Margaret Day Fonds, P85A, National Archives of Canada, Estate Philip Surrey,
Ibid, p. 132
Ibid, p. 133
Ibid, p. 159B
Ibid, p. 133