Henderson was fond of building up views of distant hills with lakes in the mid-ground and a foreground animated by light moving over the grass and the framing tress. This composition was used in such paintings as Road to the Lake, where the foreground is occupied by a rural road, with small figures, who can be identified as Indigenous by their dress, descending toward the brilliant blue of the lake below. Often these views are shown from a slightly higher vantage point, which indicate the spot he chose to do his sketching.
James Henderson
Road to the Lake, c. 1935
oil on canvas
45.7 x 61.0 cm
Collection of James Lanigan, Calgary, AB.
I admire how he acheived bringing the feeling of being overwhelmed by so much beauty onto the canvas. Especially as the canva isn’t that large!
It’s very harmonious with no one item overtaking the the other. Really nice.