A.J. Casson is a well-known Canadian painter from the Group of Seven school of landscape artists. He traveled extensively in Ontario in particular, painting villages and natural landscapes. Several of his paintings include the name “Moose Lake” in the titles:
There are almost as many lakes named “Moose Lake” as “Trout Lake” in Canada, but surely there’s some knowledge of where Casson traveled and produced his paintings (he’s a significant figure in Canadian art). Searching the web isn’t bringing up much, though.
Does anyone have any indication where A.J. Casson painted his Moose Lake landscapes?
I have no definitive answer, and furthermore the first two links aren’t working right now.
But the Group of Seven, and A.J. Casson in particular, did a lot of work in what is now the general area of the La Cloche Mountains, Killarney Provincial Park, and La Cloche Provincial Park in northern Ontario, near Sudbury. That third picture – the only link that’s working for me right now – looks straight out of the Killarney Park and La Cloche area, notably the rocky shorelines and the dense evergreens.
Except for the fact that there is no actual Moose Lake there AFAIK, my best guess would be that the third picture is from the La Cloche/Killarney area that Casson loved so much – in fact Casson Lake just outside Killarney Park is named after him. There is a Moose Lake a fair bit southeast of that area, just northeast of Barrie, that is in the picturesque Muskoka region where Casson’s travels in the general area would likely have taken him at some point.
The Canadian Geographical Names Data Base has a long List of bodies of water called Moose Lake or similar. There are over a hundred in Canada, of which about 25 are in Ontario, of which 5 are in the Sudbury region. If @wolfpup is right about the general location, this Moose Lake (sometimes called Evangeline Lake) would seem to be a strong contender. It’s not inside either of the provincial parks he mentions, but it’s only 2 or 3 miles east of the edge of La Cloche Provincial Park and maybe about 8 miles west of the edge of Killarney Provincial Park.
Google maps link to this Moose Lake here. Unfortunately there are is no street view, since there are no streets nearby, and no “photo spheres” either (those stand-alone photos you can access through Google maps street view).
This is very helpful. Their book isn’t in my local library; the Ottawa Public Library has three copies, all currently checked out (which speaks well of its usefulness).
Agreed - that place very much resembles the landscapes in his paintings (though so does, like, a lot of the Canadian Shield).
I’ve reached out to the contact details I could find for the Waddingtons; we’ll see if I get a response.
