This exquisite work by James Wilson Morrice says a great deal about Canada’s finest artist. The scene is created largely with differential tones, the texture of the brushwork, limited paint, and confident use of the panel itself.  Morrice had remarkable abilities to capture a feeling of a moment, and express a lot with very little. Compositionally, Near Dordrecht is disproportionately water and sky, with the human and land elements occupying relatively little space.  It is fair to say that it shares qualities with some of the landscapes by Whistler.

Near Dordrecht remained with Morrice until his death, and the following year was sold by W. Scott & Sons (which handled Morrice’s estate) to the family of the present owner. Morrice would later use it to paint a canvas, currently in a private collection.  It is also related to Morrice’s only known lithograph, pictured below (Art Gallery of Hamilton).

Near Dordrecht was exhibited for the first time in almost a 100 years in James Wilson Morrice Retrospective Exhibition (Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, 2023., no. 21). James Wilson Morrice was the first Canadian artist to be celebrated on art’s world stage.  His paintings can be found in museums across Canada.  Internationally, his works are in the collections of The Musée d’Orsay, Tate Gallery, Musée des beaux-arts (Lyon), the Hermitage (St. Petersburg), and the Barnes Foundation Collection (Philadelphia), to name a selection.