Royal Canadian Academy Landscape Painter William Fediow (1915-1957) “Pickerel River Ontario” Oil on Panel 1953

Painted in 1953, by William Fediow (1915-1953), “Pickerel River” is a well-known river system north of Parry Sound. This painting shows the enduring influence of the Group of Seven on mid-century Canadian landscape painting.  Like A.Y. Jackson, Fediow captured the quiet majesty of Northern Ontario with confident, rhythmic brushwork and a natural yet harmonious palette of greens, ochres, and blues. His treatment of light and reflection along the river’s edge conveys a deep familiarity with the terrain and a respect for its solitude.

William Fediow and his artist wife Pauline Redsell-Fediow (1908-1980) lived and worked in Toronto and exhibited regionally in the 1940s-50s. Their professional files are held in the University of Toronto Art Museum (TAM). Signed by the artist lower front “Fediow 1953” and tagged on the reverse with the RCA exhibition label “Royal Canadian Academy of Arts- Toronto, 1953” and handwritten title “Pickerel River Ont. 1953″. Both he and his wife have listings with RCA.

While firmly rooted in the post-Group-of-Seven tradition, Fediow’s style is more intimate and contemplative-less stylized than the bold abstractions of Lawren Harris or J.E.H. MacDonald, yet unmistakably part of their artistic lineage. The result is a serene, painterly evocation of Ontario’s wilderness-representative of the generation that carried the Group’s spirit into the 1950s Toronto art scene.

Dimensions: Image: height 12″ x width 16”. Frame: height 17.5″ x width 21.5″ x depth 1.5″