Exquisite Nude by Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald
This is a particularly fine painting by Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, one showcasing the artist’s interest in the painting technique of pointillism.
Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, 1890-1956
Nude
Oil on canvas board
10 x 12 in, 25.4 x 30.5 cm
Provenance:
Mr. Edward FitzGerald (son of the artist);
Probably acquired from the above by G. Blair Laing Limited, Toronto;
Beckett Gallery, Hamilton;
Galerie Bernard Desroches, Montreal;
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal;
Acquired from the above by the present owner, September 1999.
Our late colleague, the Toronto dealer Blair Laing, indicates on his label that Nude had belonged to the artist's son, Edward FitzGerald. We can only speculate that Laing bought it directly from Edward. In his two volume memoir, Laing describes a visit from Edward FitzGerald to his Toronto gallery in 1961. He wrote:
“Edward went on to tell me that he had inherited a large collection of his father's work, black and white and coloured drawings, some watercolours, and a few small oils, which were in Mexico, where he was then living.” [1]
Laing went on to recount his purchase a few weeks later of some 300 LeMoine FitzGerald works from Edward FitzGerald at the Hilton Hotel in Mexico City. Although Laing describes this purchase as one of mostly drawings and watercolours, it is quite likely that Edward FitzGerald sold this exquisite nude directly to Laing at some point.
When LeMoine FitzGerald joined the Group of Seven in 1932 he was already Principal of the Winnipeg School of Art. In 1933, he became a founding member of the Canadian Group of Painters. He went on to explore different painting techniques and media, and enjoyed a distinguished career as an art educator.
Endnotes:
[1] G. Blair Laing, Memoirs of an Art Dealer, Vol. 2 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979), p. 94
