Street in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, 1939 (April)
Inscriptions
Farmyard, (probably near St-Hyacinthe, partly scrapped off or unfinished) (verso); titled by the artist, ‘St. Hyacinthe’ (verso, lower left); inscribed by Katie, ‘Hold for Naomi’ (verso, lower right); inscribed by Naomi Jackson Groves with her inventory number encircled, 'NJG 963' (verso, lower right)Provenance
Katie, sister of the artist, Rawdon, Quebec
Naomi Jackson Groves, niece of the artist, Ottawa
Private collection, Ottawa, purchased from Naomi Jackson Groves, September 1987
By descent, private collection, Michigan
Naomi Jackson Groves' letter reads, "[Street in] St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, oil on wood panel, 8 ½ x 10 ½ inches, can be dated April 1939. Unsigned as it was not sold at the time of painting. Always in the Jackson family." (fig. 2) In the same fashion, since Clarence Gagnon kept most of his small oil sketches during his lifetime, he never signed them. In the case of Tom Thomson, because a large part of his body of work remained in his estate, they too were unsigned.