William Percival Weston, Un-named Mountain Peak, unknown (BG934). Photo: Howard Ursuliak.

Artwork

Unnamed Mountain Peak

Artist/Creator: William Percival Weston (Artist)
Date: c. 1930
ID #: BG934

Physical Description

Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Dimensions: 76 cm 94.5 cm (Object)
Object Description: Unnamed Mountain Peak is an oil painting depicting snow-covered mountain peaks against clear blue skies within the BC interior, in which William Percy Weston sought to portray the beauty and solitude of the wilderness. Weston uses paint to create a sense of mass, portraying the grandeur and the majesty of the mountains by simplifying the composition, reducing details and using broad, solid forms. Weston believed that people were insignificant compared to the vastness of Canada’s natural environment, and so, as is typical of his paintings, he omits them entirely here. While this choice can be seen as an acknowledgment of the power of the landscape, more recent critics have been alert to the degree to which these de-peopled landscapes obscure the complex social histories of British Columbia.

History

Collection: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery Permanent Collection
Credit Line: Gift by Mrs. W. N. Martin, Provincial President of the IODE, 1958
Related Exhibitions: –

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