Item LA.SC146.2 - Sketchbook

1 sketchbook, 13 x 19 x 2.5 cm

Sketchbook contains a visual diary of the artist’s travels in the Gaspé region of Quebec in August-October 1882, followed by a journey to the south of England, via New York City, in June-October 1883. In keeping with O’Brien’s métier as a landscape painter, most of the drawings are scenic in nature, but the volume also contains closely observed details of boats, fisherfolk, and animals encountered in his travels, particularly the sheep and Dartmoor ponies of the Devon countryside. The sketchbook dates from a period of significant activity and achievement in the artist’s career, when he was newly appointed the art editor of Picturesque Canada and responsible for creating or commissioning illustrations for this highly prestigious publishing project. His travels were integrally related to his practice as a landscape artist.
Tucked inside the front cover of the sketchbook is an invitation card for the artist’s Saturday afternoon studio open houses held in the fall/winter of 1882. The card features a printed rendition of O’Brien’s drawing of an English Tudor-style gable from a page in the sketchbook. It was designed by Toronto commercial artist and calligrapher A.H. Howard.