Late Career Paintings (1923–1936)
Much of Ahrens' later career was spent living with his family in a small stone farmhouse outside of Galt, Ontario, a place he nicknamed "Big Trees." His health, always poor, worsened, his tubercular hip becoming more debilitating. Despite this, his later paintings are among the brightest in color and most cheerful in tone. He continued painting up to the end, his last watercolors completed while a patient at the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital, where he died on February 27th, 1936.
Featured Art
Figures in the Woods
Watercolor on paper
23 x 18 cm
Signed 1936
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
Carl Ahrens died in February 1936, so this is one of his last paintings. The final months of his life were spent at the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital, where he would have had no access to scenes like this.
Path in the Woods
Watercolor on paper
21.5 x 18 cm
Signed 1934
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
By the Grand River
Oil on board
15 x 23 cm
Signed 1930
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Deborah Downes
Landscape With Woman in Boat
Oil on canvas
56 x 46 cm
Signed lower right
Private Collection
Red Jacketed Figure in Wooded Landscape
Oil on board
38 x 30.5 cm
Signed
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
This painting was originally in the collection of Ahrens' friend, John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. It would have been painted between 1923 and 1935.
Untitled Autumn Scene
Watercolor on paper
16.5 x 12.5 cm
Signed c. 1934
Collection of Kim Bullock
Acquired from the estate of rych mills
Photo by Deborah Downes
This painting originally belonged to Frank Page. Page was a journalist, publisher, poet, historian, biographer of Waterloo County (Ontario) painter, Homer Watson, and president of the Waterloo Historical Society. He was a friend to both Carl Ahrens and Homer Watson.
Big Trees
Oil on board
Signed after 1923
Private Collection
This painting is of the Ahrens home in Galt, Ontario.
Big Trees in the Autumn
Watercolor on paper
15 x 12.5 cm
Signed after 1923
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Chris Keith
This painting is of the Ahrens home in Galt, Ontario.
Untitled Landscape
Oil on plywood
40.5 x 35.5 cm
Signed 1935
Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery
Gift of Joan and Ross Murray 1985
Photo by Chris Keith
Untitled Landscape with Figure and Stream
Oil on canvas
15 x 18 cm
Signed
Private Collection
This painting may have originally belonged to landscape painter, Homer Watson, a good friend of Carl's.
Picnic Scene
Watercolor on paper
23 x 18 cm
Signed 1933
Private Collection
Photo by Lorna Ferguson
Wild Turkeys in Forest
Oil on canvas
Signed
Private Collection
Untitled Landscape
Oil on canvas
25.5 x 20 cm
Signed
Private Collection
This painting originally belonged to Carl Ahrens' friend, Arthur Pringle of Galt, Ontario. It would have been painted between 1923 and 1935.
Trees with Pond
Watercolor on paper
16.5 x 14 cm
Signed c. 1929
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Kim Bullock
This painting was given by Carl to Dr. E.K. Richardsen in exchange for medical services in 1929. It was passed down to the doctor's granddaughter before being purchased back by one of Carl's descendants.
Evening in Surrey
Oil on board
25.5 x 33 cm
Signed 1935
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
This painting is one of a few that Carl did when he lived in England in 1935.
The Feeding Ground
Oil on canvas
89 x 99 cm
Signed 1930
Private Collection
Photo by Sandu Sindile
This painting was originally in the collection of Carl's friend, John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. It passed down for a couple of generations in that family before it was sold. It is now in a private collection.
First Snow (Near Galt)
Oil on canvas
56 x 46 cm
Signed c. 1925
Collection of Al Rain
Untitled Landscape
Oil on board
21 x 14 cm
Signed
Collection of Kim Bullock
This painting originally belonged to Frank Page. Page was a journalist, publisher, poet, historian, biographer of Waterloo County (Ontario) painter, Homer Watson, and president of the Waterloo Historical Society. He was also a friend to both Carl Ahrens and Homer Watson.
Untitled Landscape with House and Pond
Oil on Board
20 x 15 cm
Signed 1933
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
Portrait of Arthur Pringle
Oil on canvas
86 x 70 cm
Signed after 1923
Private Collection
Arthur Pringle of Galt, Ontario, was a friend and patron of Carl Ahrens during the years Ahrens lived in the area. This is the latest known portrait.
Red Jacketed Figure by Clump of Trees
Watercolor on paper
23 x 18 cm
Signed 1936
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Kim Bullock
Carl died in February of 1936 at the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital. This would have been one of his last paintings.
House Through the Trees
Watercolor on paper
24 x 19 cm
Signed 1933
Private Collection
Photo by Chris Keith
Picnickers on Hill
Oil on board
23.5 x 18 cm
Signed
Private Collection
Photo by Chris Keith
Path Through the Meadow
Oil on board
15.5 x 20 cm
Signed, 1933
From the collection of Sandu Sindile
Photo by Sandu Sindile
Untitled Landscape with House and Pond
Oil on canvas
20 x 25.5 cm
Signed 1929
Private Collection
Possibly painted for fellow landscape painter, Homer Watson.
Monarch of the Forest
Oil on canvas
51 x 40.5 cm
Signed after 1923
Private Collection
Photo by Grace Meibohm
This canvas was originally owned by John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. Mackendrick was a good friend and loyal patron of Carl's.
Near Doon
Oil on canvas
51 x 38 cm
Signed c. 1925
Collection of Kim Bullock
Acquired from the estate of rych mills
Photo by Sandu Sindile
Untitled Forest Scene
Oil on canvas
54.5 x 44.5 cm
Signed 1932
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Chris Keith
Sunlight in the Wood
Oil on board
65 x 51 cm
Signed c. 1928
Collection of Richard Doherty
Photo by Richard Doherty
Unsettled Weather
Oil on canvas
58.5 x 84 cm
Signed
Collection of Janet Milne
Photo by Janet Milne
The Path
Oil on board
30.5 x 25.5 cm
Signed lower right
Private Collection
This painting was featured on page 117 of the book Head, Heart and Hand: Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters by Marie Via and Marjorie Searl. (Published by the University of Rochester Press in 1994).
Woodland Path
Oil on canvas
51 x 40.5 cm
Signed
Collection of Sandu Sindile
Photo by Sandu Sindile
Woodland Ford
Oil on canvas
102 x 81 cm
Signed 1928
Private Collection
This painting was exhibited at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1930.
Untitled Forest Interior
Oil on canvas
Signed 1934
Collection of Dan Loya
Photo by Dan Loya
Landscape With Turkeys
Oil on canvas
61 x 46 cm
Signed 1935
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Chris Keith
Sketch on Mill Creek
Oil on board
35.5 x 19 cm
Signed c. 1929
Collection of Marjorie and Scott Searl
Photo by Grace Meibohm
This painting was received by the original owner, John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario, on December 12, 1929. Ahrens and Mackendrick were childhood friends.
Statue in the Forest
Oil on canvas
61 x 46 cm
Signed
Collection of Fred and Deborah Downes
Photo by Deborah Downes
The model for this painting was a small statue kept in the Ahrens home.
Untitled Forest Scene with Red-Jacketed Figure
Oil on canvas
38 x 31 cm
Signed
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Deborah Downes
This painting has always been kept within the family. It was cleaned and restored in 1999 by Helen Houp.
Woodland Path
Oil on board
30.5 x 25.5 cm
Signed lower right
Collection of Jim Battaglia
This painting was originally part of the collection of Carl's friend, John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. It was painted between 1923 and 1935. The title is likely not the original one, but rather one assigned to the work at the 1995 exhibition of Carl's work at Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora, NY.
Man Reading in the Woods
Oil on canvas
60 x 44.5 cm
Signed
Private Collection
House Through the Trees in Autumn
Watercolor on paper
13.5 x 12 cm
Signed
Private Collection
Forest Interior with Figure in Pond
Oil on board
22.9 x 17.8 cm
Signed
Collection of Kim Bullock
October Moon
Oil on Canvas
61 x 51 cm
Signed 1929
Collection of Bob and Sherri Henry
The Lane
Oil on canvas
81.3 x 101.6 cm
Signed 1929
This piece is currently for sale at Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora, NY. $7500
Unfinished Landscape
Watercolor on paper
16.5 x 12.5 cm
Unsigned c. 1936
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Kim Bullock
This is very likely the last painting Carl worked on before he died. Though unfinished, it has always been framed and displayed in the family. This painting is featured in the last scene of the novel Kim Bullock is writing about Ahrens.
Figures in Sunlit Woods
Oil on board
21.5 x 15 cm
Signed c. 1929
Private Collection
This painting once belonged to John Noble Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. Mackendrick was a close friend of Ahrens, and would have purchased it directly from the artist.
Figures at Wooded Pond
Oil on board
21.5 x 15 cm
Signed
Private Collection
This painting once belonged to John Mackendrick of Galt, Ontario. Mackendrick was a good friend of Ahrens and would have purchased the painting directly from the artist.
Figure Gathering Nuts
Oil on canvas
56 x 46 cm
Signed
Private Collection
Photo by Grace Meibohm
This painting was originally part of the collection of John Noble Mackendrick. It was sold by Meibohm Fine Arts in East Aurora, NY in 1995.
Oaks in the Sun
Oil on canvas
61 x 51 cm
Signed 1932
Private Collection
Photo by Wendy Miller
This painting is large and difficult to photograph without a glare. The image had to be taken from the side to avoid that, leaving it mildly distorted. It also had to be cropped considerably.
Woodland Meadow and Pond
Oil on board
18 x 14 cm
Signed
Collection of Kim Bullock
Photo by Kim Bullock
Pathway in the Hills
Watercolor on paper
24 x 20.5 cm
Signed 1931
Collection of Kim Bullock
Acquired from the estate of rych mills
Photo by Sandu Sindile
I would have dated this piece much earlier if there were not a date on it. It does not appear to say '91,' which would have been what I expected. This does not appear to be an Ontario scene of any sort. Maybe it was a commissioned piece.
A Gift for Prime Minister Mackenzie King
Summer
Oil on canvas
40.5 x 30.5 cm
Signed 1934
National Archives of Canada
This painting was given as a gift to William Lyon Mackenzie King, who was then the prime minister of Canada, as a thank you for securing Ahrens and his wife passage to England, something they would not have been able to afford otherwise.
A black and white photograph of this painting has been passed down through several generations of Ahrens' descendants. In the photo, the painting is clearly dated 1932. By 1935 Ahrens was very ill, far too weak to paint anything this large, and he must have changed the date to 1934 and re-framed it before sending it on to King.
Were this painting to be cleaned, the four and the dark patch over it would likely come off to reveal the two beneath because the date was changed after the painting had been varnished.
Kim Bullock is fairly certain she has the original frame for this painting. This title and an exhibition sticker are on the back. Ahrens would have reused it on a painting of the same size.