Frederick Grant Banting
(1891 - 1941)
Previously Sold Works
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Spanish Sketch
oil on board
signed lower right; titled and dated 1933 on an exhibition label on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 ins ( 21.6 x 26.7 cms )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $14,400.00
Sale date: June 8th 2023
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Georgian Bay
oil on board
signed lower right; signed and titled on the reverse
8 x 10.5 ins ( 20.3 x 26.7 cms )
Auction Estimate: $14,000.00 - $18,000.00
Price Realized $11,800.00
Sale date: November 20th 2018
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Bylot Island
ink drawing
signed lower right; titled in the lower margin with further notations in the margins
4.75 x 6 in ( 12.1 x 15.2 cm )
Auction Estimate: $4,000.00 - $6,000.00
Price Realized $12,000.00
Sale date: November 27th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Banting as an Artist
book
by A.Y. Jackson, Ryerson Press, Toronto 1943; inscribed “David M.L. Farr, Toronto, Ont., September 1945” inside
7.25 x 5.5 ins ( 18.4 x 14 cms )
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Ships in Harbour, Gloucester, Mass.
oil on board
signed lower right; signed, titled and dated 1932 on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 ins ( 21.6 x 26.7 cms )
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Fort Resolution
oil on board
signed, titled, dated “Summer 1928” and inscribed “To Mr. Pemberton Sincerely F.G. Banting” on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $22,800.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
St. Tite Des Caps, Quebec
oil on board
signed lower right; signed, titled “St. Tete des Cap, Quebec” [sic] and dated 1937 on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $16,800.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Mary Lake / Grace Lake
oil on board
signed lower right; signed on the reverse. inscribed "More likely Grace Lake, AYJ" on the reverse, certified and dated “Sept 30 1978” by David B. Mansur on the reverse; titled to the exhibition label on the reverse
10.5 x 13.5 in ( 26.7 x 34.3 cm )
Auction Estimate: $25,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $28,800.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
The Saw Mill, St. Tite des Caps
oil on board
signed lower right; signed, titled, dated "March 1937" on the reverse and inscribed “Personal notation by AY Jackson on her 83rd birthday for C.A.G. Matthews Oct 3 1965 / 1882”
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $22,800.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Pink House in Landscape (Spain)
double-sided oil on board
certified and dated “28 March 1970” by Lady Henrietta E. Banting to a label on the reverse; titled to the gallery label on the reverse; a landscape sketch on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $13,200.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Lake Louise
oil on board
titled to a gallery label on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $16,800.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Spanish Village
oil on board
certified by David B. Mansur (2 October 1979) on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $12,000.00
Sale date: January 28th 2025
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Georgian Bay
oil on board
certified by Lady Henrietta E. Banting (28 March 1970) on the reverse; titled to a gallery label on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $18,000.00 - $22,000.00
Price Realized $21,600.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
FREDERICK GRANT BANTING
Sunset, Ste. Fidèle, Quebec, 1930
oil on board
signed lower right; titled and dated 1930 to the gallery label on the reverse
8.5 x 10.5 in ( 21.6 x 26.7 cm )
Auction Estimate: $18,000.00 - $22,000.00
Price Realized $20,400.00
Sale date: June 25th 2024
Frederick Banting Biography
(1891 - 1941)
Born in 1891 in Alliston, Ontario, Frederick Banting studied medicine at the University of Toronto. He received his MB degree in 1916 and immediately joined the Canadian Army Medical Corps and was sent overseas. He was wounded in France and awarded the Military Cross for bravery. Following the first World War, he continued his medical studies, receiving his M.D. degree in 1922. He had a particular interest in diabetes. Together with his assistant, Charles Best, Banting started the work which would lead to the lifesaving discovery of insulin. For this innovation, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1923. After the war, he had briefly set up a practice in London, Ontario. The practice was slow in getting started, so with some time on his hands, he was gripped with an urge to paint. This came about one day, when he happened by a London shop, with a display of artist’s paints in the window. He purchased them and embarked on teaching himself to paint. As his medical career took off, he had little time to devote to this passion, but after winning the Nobel Prize, he was able to dedicate some time to art. He became a collector as well as a painter. In 1927, he approached A.Y. Jackson, wishing to purchase one of his war sketches. This was the beginning of a long friendship. He saw one of Lawren Harris’ canvases and went to the artist’s studio to discuss this work and they became friends. Banting shared an appreciation of the beauty of the rugged Canadian landscape with both artists.
That same year, Jackson and Banting went on their first sketching excursion together. They travelled to St-Jean Port Jolie, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. There, Banting received his first instruction in plein air landscape painting technique from Jackson. He had a natural aptitude and his works were accepted at juried exhibitions, but he was always afraid that his work had been accepted because of his reputation as a scientist, rather than its own merit. After a time, he no longer submitted works for exhibition. He was also reluctant to sell his paintings. He had an ingenious way of supporting the artists of his acquaintance. When a collector indicated a wish to purchase one of his paintings, he instructed them to purchase a work from another local artist, and he would then exchange it for one of his own works.
In July of 1927, Banting travelled with Jackson to the Arctic. On a trip lasting two and a half months, they encountered a variety of weather and light conditions in the Arctic landscape. They returned with many sketches. The one Jackson painted of Bache Post was donated to the National Gallery of Canada by the Minister of the Interior. Over the years Banting accompanied Jackson on many sketching trips. At different times, they returned to the North shore of the St. Lawrence, travelled to the Great Slave Lake area, and visited the Group of Seven haunt, Georgian Bay. At times they were joined by other artists. Banting thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor painting experience. He invented a system for getting his completed sketches home, without spoiling them, while they were still wet. He placed match sticks between the panels as spacers, a trick that A.Y. Jackson continued to use for the rest of his career. Jackson spoke of Banting’s great determination and hard work on these sketching trips, often getting up to sketch long before breakfast.
When the Second World War began, he began to devote himself exclusively to medical research, serving as a medical liaison officer between the British and North American medical services.
