Henri Fantin-Latour

Mrs. Edwards, London
L.B. Courtney
Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam (acquired from the above in 1928)
H.S. Southam, Ottawa (acquired from the above in 1928)
E. Glyn Osler, K.C., Toronto (acquired as a gift from the above)
Thence by descent

Victoria Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Fantin-Latour, Amsterdam & New York, 1969, no. 1335, p. 140

The work is in excellent canvas. Canvas is not lined, though edges are reinforced with tape. There is a light varnish on the surface. Under UV light, though the varnish is difficult to read through, there does not appear to be any inpainting. There are vertical striations throughout the background which fluoresce, however these appear to be areas of pooling varnish which correspond to the weave of the canvas.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Beginning at the turn of the nineteenth century, an iconic Canadian family produced generations of dynamic leaders within an evolving British North American culture. From the time that Featherstone Lake Osler and his Cornish wife, Ellen Picton, arrived from England in 1837, the Osler family flourished in Canadian society, producing prominent financiers, lawyers and a world-famed physician, Sir William Osler, the most eminent member of the McGill Medical faculty, founding Physician-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins University and Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. As the youngest son, Sir William reflected a family aptitude for success and hard work, which, seconded only by humor, mirrored the accomplishments of his siblings. These included a Supreme Court judge (Featherstone, also known as “Fen”), a brilliant criminal lawyer (Britton Bath, also known as B.B), and Sir Edmund Osler, a founder of The Dominion Bank.

By the 1920s, one of Fen’s descendants, Edward Glyn Osler, K.C., a fifth-generation member of the family and an esteemed Toronto lawyer, had developed an interest in Impressionist painting. He was an avid sportsman, and as such part of his growing collection was inspired by his appreciation of the uniquely Canadian landscape. He was said to have purchased Boudin’s Trouville, marée basse (lot 130) for its hint of social realism and its appealing sense of place and time. To this day, succeeding generations of Oslers continue to summer in Métis-sur-Mer on the Lower St. Lawrence River in Quebec—a windswept, spectacularly beautiful part of Canada from which Glyn Osler’s salmon fishing trips were once regularly dispatched.

By descent, Glyn’s daughter, Barbara S. Osler, received the Fantin-Latour and the Boudin, while the Laurencin was left to her brother, Toronto lawyer, B.B. Osler, Q.C.. Educated in Paris before the war, Barbara was captivated by the emergence of the Expressionist “new Modernism,” and though called back to Canada during World War II, she lived the rest of her life in Paris, at the Hotel Meurice on the Rue de Rivoli. Her niece, Pamela Osler Delworth, wife of the eminent former Canadian Ambassador, W. Thomas Delworth, and an art historian herself, formerly with the National Gallery of Canada, inherited this portion of the collection in the early 1990s.

Now in its tenth Canadian generation, the Oslers continue to reflect the characteristics so emblematic of their predecessors: a passion for the arts and humanities, and a deeply rooted connection to Canada.