Title: Alexis Arts, RCA (Dutch-Canadian, 1940–2015) – “Setting Sun” (Steve’s Vegetable Garden; Côte Saint-Luc)
Date: July 14, 1979
Medium: Oil on Panel
Dimensions: 16” x 20” (Excluding frame)
Signature: Hand-signed and dated lower right: “Alexis Arts ’79”.
Provenance: Titled, dated, and inscribed on the reverse by the artist. Sourced from the same distinguished private estate collection as our companion piece, “Winter Reflections”.
About the Artwork:
Painted on site during a mid-summer twilight in 1979, “Setting Sun” is a brilliant example of Alexis Arts’ celebrated mastery of atmospheric light. The composition depicts “Steve’s vegetable garden”—a historic garden patch in the Côte Saint-Luc region of Montreal—rendered in a bold, post-Impressionistic style.
Arts brilliantly balances the glowing, low-angled golden light of the setting sun against deep, jewel-toned cobalt and umber shadows stretching across the rustic homestead and garden beds. Having immigrated from the Netherlands to Canada in 1955 and trained at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, this painting reflects the height of his regional Quebec style, blending European landscape sensitivities with rugged Canadian topographical character. A rare, fully documented, and highly collectible piece of Canadian art heritage.