Playing at the Backhouse Mill, 1984 by James Keirstead depicts children bundled in winter jackets playing in the snow beside an historic mill.

James Keirstead (1932-2020) is a Canadian artist widely recognized for his expressive landscapes and portrayals of historic sites. Over a career spanning more than five decades, Keirstead has developed a distinctive approach to oils, often applying paint with palette knives to build up surface texture and dynamic colour relationships. He has painted a wide range of Canada, from rural scenes and heritage mills in Ontario to coastal settings in Newfoundland and British Columbia, as well as landscapes and architectural subjects in Europe. Keirstead’s paintings are known for their combination of emotional warmth and painterly presence.