View with a Picnic Table, 1945

View with a Picnic Table, 1945. Watercolour on paper by Cecil Augustus de Trafford Cunningham (1897-1973)

View with a Picnic Table, 1945. Watercolour on paper by Cecil Augustus de Trafford Cunningham (1897-1973)

Name/Title

View with a Picnic Table, 1945

Entry/Object ID

2017.04.01

Description

Painting This coastal vista depicts a quiet beach with a picnic table with the ocean behind and mountains in the distance. The location is likely Victoria, B.C.

Artwork Details

Medium

Watercolour on paper

Subject Place

Region

Pacific Northwest

Continent

North America

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Cecil Augustus de Trafford Cunningham (1897-1973)

Role

Painter

Date made

1945

Time Period

20th Century

Notes

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Born in Wapella, Saskatchewan, Cecil Augustus de Trafford Cunningham served briefly in the 88th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in WWI. After being wounded in the 1916 Battle of the Somme and suffering severe pneumonia, he invalided out of the service, returned to Canada and later began to develop his career as a painter and artist in Nanaimo and Victoria. He is known for his views of scenery and buildings in Victoria, across Vancouver Island (i.e. Deep Bay, Cameron Lake, Cowichan Bay, Lantzville and Nanaimo) and beyond, such as Banff. Of special note were his totems, buildings and scenes of village life of the Northwest Coast and First Nations people. Cunningham is reported to have won numerous awards and prizes for his watercolours. He exhibited his artwork with the Island Arts and Crafts Society, and also in the B.C. Artists Exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 1940 to 1949. He was also a member of the Victoria Sketch Club. Cunningham died in Victoria in 1973. His son, Reverend Ray Cunningham, published a book on his father, “Through the Eyes of a Gentle Painter", showing many of the watercolours that were purchased by the B.C. Provincial Archives. A large body of his work is also held by Westminster Abbey, a community of Benedictine monks in Mission B.C.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature, Date

Location

Signed and dated lower right: C DE T CUNNINGHAM 1945

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Visible image

Height

21.6 cm

Width

29.2 cm

Acquisition

Notes

Detail unknown

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

By Cecil Augustus de Trafford Cunningham: 2017.04.01 View with a Picnic Table, 1945 2017.04.02 Trawler in the Bay 2017.05.08 Coastal View: Boathouse and Sailboat, 1940 2017.05.18 Beached Dinghy 2018.08.08 Coastal Scene