A male cardinal drops toward a snow-covered pine, wings spread in landing, while a female forages below in the blue-white shadow of the drifts. This 1987 watercolour is the image most people picture when they think of Glen Loates — the red of the male against winter snow, the composition spare and absolutely certain. Nothing is wasted. The pine needles, the seed casings scattered on the snow, the shadow that gives the drift its dimension: every element earns its place.
Cardinals in winter were a subject Glen returned to across his career, and this is the definitive statement of that subject. The watercolour is technically flawless — the wet-on-wet passages in the snow, the precise detail of the pine needles, the way the male's red is slightly warmed against the cool blue shadow. Glen Loates is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts; this is one of his most beloved and widely collected works.
Glen Loates is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts whose work has been collected internationally for over five decades. Each bag is printed to gallery standards and built to carry the conversation wherever you go.
