“The Attached Scans Are Presumed to Be a 1945 Clara Harris Painting”

These are the words of Les, an avid collector of Clara’s paintings. You might recall seeing his collection in the September 2012 visit to his home in St. Catharines, Ontaro. Les elaborates further:

The painting is missing her standard signature although it does have a description on the reverse that appears to be similar to her handwriting – can you offer any further insights? The style certainly appears to be correct. Thoughts?

Autumn Scene in original frame. Oil on paper board

Near Limberlost Lodge, Oct. 1945, Afternoon.

Here’s my response:

This is definitely Clara's work. The writing on the back matches notations on her other paintings. The frame looks to be the original and is consistent with other framed works of the period. You've probably thought of this but Clara’s signature could be hidden by part of the frame.

The proliferation of autumn paintings suggests that it was Clara’s favourite season to paint. If you compare your painting with "Glorious Autumn Day" and "Fall Brilliance" (See “Collectors Gallery, Emanuel Yarimi's Collection) and Christine K's "Homestead in the Valley" (Curator’s Blog, January 19, 2015,

“A Cache of Clara’s”) you can see that the styles, brushstrokes, and colours are typical “Clara”.

The location also fits in with Clara's jaunts to northern Ontario, in this case Huntsville: https://limberlostlodge.com Thanks Les for sharing this scene with us.