Watercolour  Paintings   Page  1
of Wilfrid Flood (1904-1946) 
 

 

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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
Red  School   Hull P.Q. 
Water-colour  on Paper 
 1943 
18 in by 22.5in (ref-257) 
Private Collection 

The "Hull Intermediate High School" is still there on Wright St  minus the bell tower - (feb 2000) 

Notice his use of ovals in this centralist composition. The red school sits like a large diamond, (in this case ruby), on a ring. 

Notice also how the school shape reflects the painting shape as it sits centrally forming a stable timeless foil against which the transience of childhood is played out in what could be referred to metaphorically as the ring of life. 
(by keith)

 
 
W. Flood  1904 - 1946 
 
 
photo by  keith  2000 
 
Alexandra Bridge  1946 
Ottawa Ont - Hull PQ 
Water-colour on Paper 
18.5 in by 23.5in (ref-001) 
Family Collection 

There have been many changes to this railroad bridge - the tracks are gone - the paper mill is gone and the sulfur pile is gone. 

Note the strong "S" shape from the foreground up through the bridge - the light standard on the left foreground is almost animated into an onlooker, it's verticality pulling against the reddish curve of the tracks.  

The stresses in the composition are held in place by a veritcal / horizontal grid formed by  the intersecting lamppost and railing in the foreground. 

It is fascinating to compare the photo to the painting to see how the artist poeticized a common scene. 
(by keith)

It is interesting to note the common characteristics in these two compositions. The red school house and the bridge both occupy a similar position in the pictorial field. The wood fence in the foreground of the red school house and the iron fence in the foreground of alexandra bridge both occupy the lower portion of the foreground. Look at the redish shape in the lower left foreground of the red school and compare it the the shape of the fence in the lower left foreground of the alexandra bridge. They are similar. The middle ground of both compositions make use of curves. We could continue our analysis but I have made the point that there was a common underlying structure to both compositions even though they both appear different. This is a good example of that old saying, "hide the art".
 
 

 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946 
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"Passing Storm"
 
 1940  Cobalt Ontario 
Water-colour on paper 
17.5in by 22 in (ref-118) 
Family Collection 

"great sheets of silver are torn from the veins of the earth - such was the birth place of Cobalt in Northern Ontario - a mud drenched company mining town.  

Mr Flood dips into his basket of metaphors and uses the passing storm motif, forcing us to follow him  upward  through colour and character to rises above the blood,  sweat and toil drenched shanty-town below. 
 
 
 
 

Site Sketch: Charcoal on Paper 1938~1939 (ref-143) 

It is always facinating to find an artists site sketch and compare it to the worked up  painting. Thanks to Mr. Flood's son John, we have that rare opportunity. 
(by keith) 
 
 
 
 

"Cobalt" 
circa 1940 
Watercolour on Paper 
15.5in x 18in (ref-101) 
Family Collection 
 

We have two paintings each done from the same source sketch and . each one different in character. This is a very interesting find for students of art. 
 
 

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Sunlit Rocks" 
Hogs Back Ottawa:  
n.d. 
Water-colour 
14 in by 17 in (ref-003) 
Family Collection 

Hogs Back has always been  a popular picnic area On warm spring and summer days hundreds of people gather to sit on the rocks dangleing  their feet into the cool rushing water. 

This watercolour just radiates sunlight hitting the rocks and bouncing off winters ice. It takes incredable skill to obtain this effect. Mr. Flood has once again created a brilliant watercolour in a masters medium. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"La Salette, P.Q" 
n.d. 
Water-colour 
15.5 in by 19.5 in (ref-048) 
Private Collection 

This water-colour compared to the "Sunlite Rocks"  water-colour is more spontaneous in it's treatment - having a quick on site sketch quality. 

The quick fluid washes and certainty of the brush strokes reinforces the plein-air feeling and gives us an insight into this painters keen eye and quick mind.  

I would interpret this to be a site sketch. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"untitled" 
n.d. 
Water-colour 
15 in by 19 in (ref-049) 
Private Collection 

Another very rapidly executed water-colour showing absolute mastery of water-colour effects. 

You can feel a chill in the wind and the wetness of the water - all achieved with out resorting to photo realism which appeals to the eye and not to the soul . Mr. Flood has given us another great water-colour. 

I would interpret  this to be a site sketch. 
(by keith)

 

 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946 
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"Argentite St" 
 1939  Cobalt Ontario 
Water-colour on paper 
15in by 18 in (ref-178) 
Family Collection 

This water-colour retains much of the spontinaity shown in the site sketch below. 

The small street light hanging from the second-post-in marks the center of the composition. This was a tendency on the part of some artists of the period.  

Notice how the dark shed on the right side counterbalances the mass on the left. In the site sketch below he gave more prominence to the towers on the right and less to the shed and less to the mass on the left. 

The subject matter and it's rendering is reflective of his period and the Group of  Seven members he sketched with. 

Site Sketch:  
Charcoal on Paper  
Argentite St. Cobalt 
1938 
18in by 24in (ref-174) 

It is always facinating to find an artists site sketch and compare it to the worked up  painting. Thanks to Mr. Flood's son John, we have that rare opportunity. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946 
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"Storm over Farrelton" 
1939 
Water-colour 
18 in by 21 in (ref-171) 
Family Collection 

A water-colour showing absolute mastery of effects. 
This painting was exhibited: 
1939 - New York World's Fair 
1939 - National Gallery of Canada 
1939 - Ontario Society of Artists, Art Gallery of Ontario 
1940 - Exposition des "Confreres du Caveau", Ottawa 
1946 - Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, Art  Gallery of Ontario 
1947 - Wilfrid Flood Memorial Exhibit, Ottawa 
2000 - Carleton University Art Gallery 

(by keith&john)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Bells Corners" 
1944 
Water-colour 
16 in by 20 in (ref-251) 
Private Collection 

There is something about this water-colour that calls to mind a child-hood memory of a warm summer afternoon - when the sun suddenly goes behind a cloud and a slight cooling fills the air. 

Mr. Flood once more touches my soul with his water-colour mastery. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Boiling the Sap, Sugar Bush" 
1938 
Water-colour on paper 
14.5 in by 18 in (ref-133) 
Family Collection  

Woven into the composition of this painting is Wilfrid Flood's friend and fellow artist Frank Hennessey - stoking the fire - was to meet an untimely death a few months after this painting was completed. 

Although Mr. Flood has followed the traditional method of composition; foreground, middle ground; background, the left side of the snow bank in the foreground has a vertical stopping tendency which twists into  more horizontal diagonal features on the right foreground  - providing the eye with a path to enter the scene and forming the boundary of a circular motif. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Untitled" 
1940 
Water-colour on paper 
15 in by 18 in (ref-141) 
Family Collection  

An excellent water-colour, this type of  draughtsmanship is no longer available on the market. His rendering of the boards and logs hint at his art training in England. 

The graphic has been slightly enhanced to catch the freshness of the scene for electronic presentation. 

It has the feel of a studio painting 
it would be interesting to see the site sketches. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Gatineau Camping" 
1940 
Water-colour on paper 
14.5 in by 17 in (ref-013) 
Family Collection  

Summer of 1940 - the war years. 
Mr Flood has caught the outdoor atmosphere of camping in the bush. The tent not only symbolizes our relationship to nature but also our dependence upon a complex infrastructure to maintain life. The tenor of the paiting, in relation to the historical period in which it was painted,  reinforces the artists tendency to live in a  world within a world. 
(by keith)

 
 
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W. Flood  1904 - 1946
"Paper Mill Thurso" 
P.Q.  1944 
Water-colour on paper 
16 in by 20 in (ref-182) 
Family Collection  

We are by now aware that Mr. Flood is an experienced painter. 

In this painting there is something about the quality and colour of the smoke rising from the stack that touches me deeply. 

The graphic has been slightly enhanced to catch the freshness of the scene for electronic presentation. 
 

(by keith)

 
Watercolour  Paintings   Page  1
of Wilfrid Flood (1904-1946) 
 

 

Oil
Drawings
Library
Introduction page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8