William Percy Weston :: 1879 - 1967
About The Artist
Period 3 :: Maturing Style (1931-1967)
Boating in the Okannagan
with daughter, Bette - Circa 1960
As Weston's knowledge of the coast deepened, so did his sense of design, with "sharpened observations of the line and outlines, or planes and patterns."(19)
Thom identifies Peaks of Silence from 1931, as defining the beginning of the third period.
He attributes Weston's matured style to the growing influences of art nouveau/deco and Japanese pattern books. He incorporated these with "heavy, opaque brush strokes, a strong sense of mass and a linear, decorative design."(20)
Weston applied these elements to his paintings for the rest of his career. "He employed them to advantage in striking images of the coastal trees and mountains and later the Okanagan and Kootenays."(21)
The third period paintings in this collection span over 25 years, with Finis B.C. from 1933 to View from Eagle Island, painted in 1959.
Weston sustained his passion for painting the landscape throughout his life. He created a body of work that both captivates and surrenders to the natural forms and moods of the Pacific Northwest Coast. "He, more than any other artist, captured the awesome, lonely nature, the spirit of British Columbia."(22)