Edition number 24/100

Private collection, Calgary

Walter Joseph Phillips is revered as one of Canada’s most accomplished printmakers, with artworks rich in masterful technique, graceful design, and harmonious balance. “Summer Idyll” is the largest woodcut ever executed by Phillips – eighteen woodblocks were utilized in its creation. Dissatisfied with the first run of this subject, Phillips went on to destroy it. In the summer of 1925, the Phillips family visited Lake Muskoka in Ontario for three weeks and vacationed in a cottage on Big Island. Phillips and his wife, Gladys, had six children and the artist often had the children pose for him as models in outdoor locations. The natural beauty of Big Island inspired Phillips. As the artist shared, “The weather was glorious, the air was soft, the sandy shores inciting. My young family disported itself in the water and along the shore all day long. Here was an exceptional opportunity. I made sketches of the children…They made splendid willing models.” Upon his return to Winnipeg after this holiday, Phillips created woodcuts from these summer sketches. “Summer Idyll”, recognized as one of his most accomplished woodcuts, depicts an incandescent scene of happiness as his daughter reaches her arms towards the butterflies flying by. The charm of this work is in the detail, from the gentle ripple of the water to the soft lichen on the rocks, to the lush grass. “Summer Idyll” evokes the innocence of childhood and is executed with an exquisite technique that only Phillips could accomplish. In 1926, The Graphic Arts Club of Toronto awarded “Summer Idyll” a bronze medal for the best colour woodcut, welcome recognition, and appreciation for the artist’s great skill in this medium.