Doris McCarthy at 111

McCarthy at 111_ summer of ’32

Doris McCarthy, Curry Rowing at North Lake, 1932

Curry Rowing at North Lake, 1932, mixed media, 7.5″ x 5″

To mark the occasion of Doris McCarthy’s 111 birthday (yesterday) we are pleased to present for the first time this dynamic sketch from Doris’ 22nd year and the 1932 summer sketching trip to North Lake. Doris had just graduated from her painting studies at the Ontario College of Art and put her years of study into full use while at North Lake. Her sketching partner, Ethel Curry, a Haliburton native, and also a recent graduate of OCA, suggested the small cabin and lake to mark the summer after and the beginning of their professional careers.

Curry was often the subject of Doris’ sketching that year, a perfect study of a young woman comfortable in her country skills and skin. Curry Rowing at North Lake is one of a few sketches that have been released over the last decades and one of the most dynamic of the lot.

A large energy poured into this small study, capturing the necessary strength to row on a windy, stormy day, -and a moment of time with flashes of colour to contrast and balance the force of the oars and the placement, to steady, of the fiercely marked black boots.

Posted July 8th, 2021, by admin.