In Summer Field, (c. 1925), John William Beatty captures the feeling of a warm summer day with colour choices that bring the landscape to life. The sky rolls in shifting tones of turquoise and teal, creating a sense of movement and airiness, while the sunlit field glows with shades of rose, sienna, and ochre. These warm tones ripple across the land like waves of heat, held in balance by the darker silhouettes of trees that ground the scene against the luminous sky.

Throughout his career, Beatty exhibited widely, both in Canada and abroad. He showed regularly with the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and his paintings appeared in important venues such as the Art Association of Montreal and the Art Gallery of Toronto. His international training opened doors to exhibitions in Paris and London, placing him among the Canadian painters who achieved recognition on both national and international stages.

Upon returning to Canada, Beatty (1869-1941) became a central figure in the country’s artistic life. He was associated with Maurice Cullen, whose impressionist explorations of light and atmosphere paralleled Beatty’s own, and Horatio Walker, with whom he shared membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He also had ties to William Brymner, the influential Montreal teacher who helped shape a generation of Canadian painters. Through these connections, Beatty stood within a distinguished circle of artists who, like him, sought to balance European training with a distinctly Canadian vision. This oil on panel measures 10 x 13.5 and is signed on the bottom left.