Provenance

The Canadian Fine Arts Gallery Ltd., Toronto

Roberts Gallery, Toronto

The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, deaccessioned February 2026

Private Collection, Ontario

The work was certified by Paul Rodrik, the son of the artist.

In the fall of 1918, Lawren Harris, J.E.H MacDonald, and Frank Johnston made their first painting trip to Algoma. Convinced by Harris, the Algoma Central Railway loaned the group a boxcar to serve as both lodgings and a mobile studio. The boxcar’s first location was at the Agawa River, in what is now the famous Agawa Canyon.

Painted red and numbered #10557 in white, the boxcar was complete with bunks, tables and chairs, a stove, and painting materials. There was also a canoe and a handcar, which could be used for short-distance travel along the rail line. This mobile studio could be moved along the rail line to the landscapes that members of the group wanted to explore, Algoma in all its fall glory. Records indicate that at the conclusion of each day in the field, group members returned to the boxcar and compared their work over dinner. The success of this trip led to its repetition in the fall of 1919 and 1920.