“Clara’s Preferences”
In various sections of the website I’ve referred to Clara’s modesty. She felt uncomfortable promoting herself and often preferred to give her paintings away rather than sell them. But when Clara did sell her work she had a caveat: she had to like the potential buyer. And this just might explain the history of low monetary value and lack of recorded sales of Clara’s work. Recently “Robert B”. contacted me. "I found the Clara site by doing a general search on the internet." Robert knew Clara and purchased three paintings from her. "Unfortunately I had one of the first house on Scarlet Road that got damaged and ended up being trashed. The Scarlet Road painting was very similar to your “Farm House on Scarlet Road.” (See Farm House on Scarlet Road, Toronto, Ontario, Morning, January 1937. Winter Section) From this information it is probable that Clara’s 1937 depiction of the farm house was the first house on that road. Also note that the correct spelling is “Scarlett” but Clara recorded the street name with only one “t”. I have 2 of Clara's paintings. They are both signed, have descriptions on the back and measure 14 x 17”. I have one of Haliburton.
Robert’s painting of Haliburton is very similar to Winter in Haliburton in the Winter Section of the site. Robert’s has some appealing inclusions: two cross country skiers as well as a man and a horse drawn wagon. The location of both paintings and the specifics of the buildings are described in Winter in Haliburton, Thursday, April 11, 2013 by Curator, Stephen Hill of the Haliburton Highlands Museum. And one of the Valley in west Toronto. I believe that Clara told me at the time that the Valley Road painting was from Humbercrest down into the valley towards the Humber River.
I also know of a portrait of a woman, very stern looking, that a friend of mine purchased from Clara. Hopefully I will be able to forward it to you soon. I always enjoyed seeing Clara and thought it was cute when she wouldn't sell a painting to someone if she didn't like them. I appreciate all the work you have put into this site. Thank you Robert for your contributions to Clara’s archive.
