Maurice Haycock (1900–1988) was a Canadian artist, geologist, mineralogist, photographer, musician, and historian. The Lièvre River, Gatineau (1941) depicts a broad winter valley with the river winding through snow‑covered farmland. Open water appears in cool blue‑greys contrasting with the warm ochres and browns of exposed earth along the banks. Scattered farmhouses and outbuildings are in the foreground. Beyond the river, wooded slopes rise toward rounded hills and distant mountains in subdued tones, suggesting depth and winter haze. The pale winter sky stretches overhead, and soft sunlight on the snow and earth gives the scene a gentle warmth.

Haycock was born in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and earned a Ph.D. in economic geology and mineralogy at Princeton University. He traveled to the eastern Canadian Arctic in 1926–27 with the Geological Survey of Canada, living and working on Baffin Island. On his return voyage he met Group of Seven painter A. Y. Jackson, who influenced his turn to painting and later became a regular painting companion. As a geologist he discovered a previously unknown mineral during his study of South African ores, later named haycockite in his honour. In Ottawa he served with the Department of Mines (later the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources) and established and directed the mineralogy section focused on Canadian ores. He was also a French horn player, founder and first president of the Ottawa Civic Orchestra (now Ottawa Symphony Orchestra), and a co‑founder of the Ottawa Youth Orchestra.

His work was exhibited in Canada with the Ontario Society of Artists annual exhibitions, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts shows, and in group exhibitions such as True North: Visionaries of Canadian Art in Calgary and historical exhibitions in Toronto. Major public collections holding his work include the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, and Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

Haycock also taught and mentored other artists through painting trips and sketching excursions with contemporaries such as A. Y. Jackson and Ralph Wallace Burton in the Ottawa Valley and throughout Canada. His work is recognized for its clear observation of the Canadian landscape from the Gatineau region to the High Arctic. This pastel on paper is protected by museum glass, measures 23.5 × 28.5 inches, and is signed and dated bottom right.