In 2016 James Rottman Fine Art hired heritage Toronto archivist Ellen Scheinberg to conduct research to help identify the location in Toronto where Lawren Harris painted this attractive circa 1920 ‘Houses, Group no. XIV’ oil sketch. Many of Harris’s early Toronto urban paintings depict homes in Toronto’s older neighbourhoods, but their exact locations are typically unknown. What heritage archivist Ellen Scheinberg miraculously discovered was that this subject, an unidentified house in this early 1920 Harris painting still exists today in Upper Yorkville in Toronto, and was once inhabited by a celebrated Toronto architect. The archivist’s research on the property not only widens our knowledge of Lawren Harris’s interest in painting urban subjects, but also sheds light on the history of old Toronto, its early architecture, and its human demographics.

James Rottman Fine Art carries a significant inventory of historical artworks by Lawren Harris. Do not hesitate to contact us with inquiries regarding this artwork or other works by Lawren Harris.

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