Norman Bay, Lake of the Woods
20.75 x 22.5 x 0.75 in (52.7 x 57.2 x 1.9 cm) including frame
Norman Bay, Lake of the Woods is a rare Kenora area composition by Alexander Musgrove, who was a founding figure of the Winnipeg School of Art. The watercolour depicts a cluster of dwellings and boat houses perched on the rocky Precambrian Shield. Musgrove uses a high-keyed palette of pale blues, greens, and warm tans, employing controlled outlines to define the geometric shapes of the rooftops against the hillside.
The work captures the quiet, domestic character of the lakeside settlement, featuring details like laundry lines and window boxes. This specific location was of shared interest among the Winnipeg art community; Musgrove's contemporary, Walter J. Phillips, also produced two notable prints and watercolours of Norman Bay in Kenora.
Alexander Johnston Musgrove
1882 - 1952
Alexander Johnston Musgrove was a Scottish-born Canadian painter, educator, and curator who played a foundational role in the development of the arts in Manitoba. Born in Edinburgh, he received his formal artistic training at the Glasgow School of Art between 1901 and 1910. He immigrated to Canada in 1913 to serve as the first Principal of the Winnipeg School of Art. Under his leadership, the school and the newly established Winnipeg Art Gallery operated in close coordination to foster a professional arts community in Western Canada.
Musgrove was a primary organizer of several influential arts collectives. In 1914, he founded the Winnipeg Sketch Club and served as its first president. Following a brief return to Scotland in the early 1920s, he opened the Western Art Academy in Winnipeg in 1921. He was instrumental in the 1925 reorganization of the Manitoba Society of Artists, serving as its secretary and later as its president from 1929 to 1934. His leadership during this period is credited with maintaining the visibility of the visual arts in the region during the economic challenges of the 1930s.
Artistically, Musgrove specialized in watercolours and printmaking, particularly woodblock and linoblock prints. His subject matter often focused on the prairie landscape, architectural studies of grain elevators, and rural scenes. Beyond his studio practice, he was an active art critic and writer, contributing regularly to local newspapers and serving as the curator of the Winnipeg Art Gallery from 1932 until 1949.
Musgrove’s work has been featured in several public exhibitions, including a 1986 retrospective held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery titled "The Forgotten Innovator." His work is represented in major public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. He remained a resident of Winnipeg until his death in 1952.
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