Lot #64: Framed watercolour by Graham Noble Norwell (1901-1967)

Framed watercolour by Graham Noble Norwell (1901-1967) .  Winter landscape.  20 inches high by 22 inches wide.Graham Noble Norwell was born in Edinburg, Scotland in 1901, the older of two sons of Captain John Craigie and Mary Helen Norwell.  In 1914, he came to Canada with his parents and brother Ian, aboard the SS Grampion (Allan Lines). After a short time spent in Montreal, the Norwell family moved to Kingston, Ontario.  In 1920 Graham and Ian went their separate ways, and Graham traveled to South America, Europe & U.S.A.. During his stay in New York, he visited Greenwich Village where he saw artists and writers at work. He returned to Canada the same year and entered the Ontario College of Art, where he studied under Arthur Lismer, G.A. Reid, J.W. Beatty and Roberts Holmes. Graham Won a scholarship and Honourable mention in Design. He only studied at the College for about one year, and then went to Paris and London where he met Augustus John and became his pupil.  At the age of 21, he moved back to Canada and settled in Ottawa, where he began to receive favorable reviews in the newspapers. In 1924, he was elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists. Norwell spent the last 6 years of his life in the Laurentians, where he died at the age of 66.  Much of his early work was done in oils but later he did many water colours. He was at the height of his career between 1925 and 1935. Norwell exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1921-1943, and the Art Association of Montreal in 1922-1943. His work is in the collections of the AGO, and NGC.