Hilton MacDonald Hassell 1910 – 1980

Hilton Macdonald Hassell ( 1910 – 1980 ) OSA, RCA
Title: BUILDINGS AT ROCKWOOD
Size: 18” x 26” ( 25 1/2″ x 35 1/4″ framed ) ……. $2495.00 Canadian

Rendered with Hassell’s characteristic economy of stroke and strong sense of structure, Buildings at Rockwood likely depicts the northeast end of the Rockwood Conservation Area. The artist balances architectural forms with the surrounding landscape, using short, planar brushstrokes to suggest rooflines, tree trunks, and patches of late snow. His restrained yet warm palette captures clear seasonal light and quiet harmony. Confidently painted and well-scaled at 18″ × 26″, the work is a fine example of mid-century Canadian landscape painting that unites precision with painterly freedom.

Born in Lachine, Quebec in 1910, Hassell studied at the Ontario College of Art in 1929 under J.W. Beatty, J.E.H. MacDonald and F.H. Johnston. He enjoyed a successful career in commercial art (including work as an art director at Maclean’s) before moving to freelance and full-time painting after 1951. Hassell exhibited regularly — he showed 13 works with the Royal Canadian Academy between 1936 and 1966 — and was an active member of Canada’s mid-century art community (OSA, RCA). His paintings often combine plein-air observation with a pared-down, geometric treatment of forms: village and mill scenes, wooded streams and northern shorelines recur in his oeuvre. He died in 1980.