David Milne, Reflections, Glenmore Hotel, watercolour

Big Moose Lake, New York State, USA
October AD 1923

This is a painting of the Glenmore Hotel, which was situated on the banks of Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks, New York State. With reference to this painting, the artist described his 'ambition to do…a bisected picture, the reflections exactly the same in every way as the landscape except inverted - no change in colour, shape or texture, coming from a perfect reflection.'

David Milne (1882-1953) was born in rural Ontario, Canada. He lived in New York City between 1903 and 1916, after which he moved to the village of Boston Corners in New York State. Here he lived a simple life, influenced by the philosophy of transcendentalism (which emphasizes communion with nature and self-reliance as a means of spiritual cleansing). In 1924, a year after he completed this painting, Milne built himself a cottage at Big Moose Lake, near the Glenmore Hotel. He ran tea houses over the summers or worked as a handy man to finance his painting. He painted outside from observation, and went for walks carrying his painting materials to find suitable 'painting places'.

This was the first of three watercolours by David Milne that the British Museum acquired in the 1990s, following the earlier purchase of the drypoint Painting Place in 1986.

D. Milne Jnr and D. Silcox, David B. Milne: catalogue rais (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1998)

D. Silcox, Painting place. The life and w (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1996)

R. L. Tovell, Reflections in a quiet pool. T (National Gallery of Canada, 1980)

J. O'Brian, David Milne and the modern tra (Toronto, The Coach House Press, 1983)