12 x 14 in (30.5 x 35.6 cm) including frame
Provenance:
Gift from the artist to Private Collection;
By descent to Private Collection, Winnipeg
Exhibited
Possibly, Small Pictures, Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, 25 August-8 September 1923, no. 284, as A Little Shop.
Literature
Possibly, Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture by British, Swedish and Canadian Artists and International Graphic Art (exh. cat.) (Toronto: Canadian National Exhibition, 1923): no. 284, p. 41, as A Little Shop.
Born in Toronto in 1882, Marion Long’s professional career was based there and spanned the first half of the twentieth century. During that period, she exhibited regularly with the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and at the Canadian National Exhibition as she established her reputation with portraits and still lifes on canvas, and smaller urban scenes in oil on board.
She first exhibited at the RCAA in 1905, the OSA the next year and was a mainstay of those exhibitions for the next four decades. In 1916 she occupied studio number 1 in the Studio Building that opened in 1914 and was financed by Lawren S. Harris and Dr. James MacCallum. Originally occupied by A.Y. Jackson and Tom Thomson until Jackson relocated to Montreal and Thomson moved into a nearby construction shack, Long kept studio 1 until 1926. By 1928 she had a studio closer to the downtown core at 18 Grenville Street that she held until 1937.
Building on her two years of training with Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League in New York early in the century, her proximity to Harris in studio 2 (then 3) of the Studio Building, and the proximity from her Grenville Street studio to the part of Toronto’s St. John’s ward known popularly as “The Ward”, Long presented the gritty neighbourhood sympathetically. Where Harris’s views of the Ward painted in the 1910s and 1920s often perceived it coolly, Long’s views are disarming, By the 1930s her paintings of the neighbourhood greatly appealed to contemporary viewers as it was understood the Ward would soon disappear as old gave way to new. The Little Shop beautifully captures Torontonians living amongst each other, connected every day in every way, carrying on.
We thank Gregory Humeniuk, art historian, writer and curator, for contributing the above essay and research
(Includes Buyer's Premium)
Marion Long
Marion Long was born in Toronto in 1882. She attended Model School and St. Margaret's College before studying at the Ontario College of Art under George Agnew Reid and privately with Laura Muntz Lyall. From 1907 to 1909, she studied in New York City at the Art Students League with Robert Henri, William Merritt Chase, and Kenneth Hayes Miller. In 1913, she studied at Provincetown, Massachusetts under Charles Hawthorne and opened her own studio in Toronto that same year.
Long eventually occupied Studio One in the Studio Building, which had previously been used by A.Y. Jackson and Tom Thomson. She moved into this space after Jackson returned to Montreal before enlisting in the army and Thomson moved to the shack behind the main building. She later moved to her own studio on Grenville Street while living at her home on Poplar Plains Road. In 1915, Long contributed three drawings to The Canadian Magazine depicting the First World War from a woman's perspective, including "Home on Furlough," "Looking at the War Pictures," and "Killed in Action."
Long was elected an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1922 and became a full Academician in 1933, making her only the second woman elected to full membership in the Academy, following Charlotte Schreiber fifty years earlier. She was a member of the Ontario Society of Artists from 1916, the Ontario Institute of Painters, and served as President of the Heliconian Club in 1919.
Long was commissioned to paint numerous portraits of prominent Canadians, including a series of seven portraits of men and women of the Canadian armed forces during World War II, now held at the John Deutsch University Centre at Queen's University, Kingston. She was also commissioned to paint portraits of members of the Royal Norwegian Air Force and received the King Haakon VII medal of liberation for her services to Norway during World War II. In July 1942, she exhibited twenty-five of these portraits at Eaton's Fine Art Galleries in Toronto and Montreal, where they were well received. In 1943, Imperial Tobacco commissioned her to paint eleven portraits of sailors and servicemen for a Players Navy Cut campaign.
Long exhibited with the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy beginning in 1905, as well as at the Canadian National Exhibition and the Art Association of Montreal. Her work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Toronto, Queen's University, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. She is known for her portraits, urban scenes, landscapes, and flower paintings. Long died in Toronto in 1970 at the age of 87.
November Canadian Fine Art Auction
November 13 - November 27, 2025
212 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg MB
(204) 255-5690
mayberryfineart.com
[email protected]
Contact us to make an appointment to preview this item or to sell similar works.
|
Bidding Range
|
Increment
|
|---|---|
| $0.00 - $50.00 | $1.00 |
| $50.00 - $100.00 | $5.00 |
| $100.00 - $500.00 | $10.00 |
| $500.00 - $1,000.00 | $25.00 |
| $1,000.00 - $5,000.00 | $50.00 |
| $5,000.00 - $10,000.00 | $100.00 |
| $10,000.00 - $20,000.00 | $200.00 |
| $20,000.00 - $50,000.00 | $500.00 |
| $50,000.00 - $100,000.00 | $1,000.00 |
| $100,000.00+ | $5,000.00 |
Login or register a BidLots.com account to participate in any auction. Track specific lots and artists with real-time notifications on all bidding activity.
Bidding approval requires three simple steps:
1. Create a Bid Lots account
2. Confirm your email address
3. Create a valid billing profile
Bid Lots and/or the auctioneer may choose to revoke your bidding privileges if your account is not in good standing or your activity is in conflict with our standard terms and conditions of sale.
The buyer’s premium is an additional percentage charged to the winning bidder. The buyer’s premiums may vary from auction to auction, typically ranging from 10% to 20%. Buyer’s premiums will be displayed on detailed lot listings and paddle registration forms.
Bidding begins at the reserve price and advances at set increments based on the bidding range. The specific bidding increments may vary from auction to auction, however the next bid and subsequent increments will always be clearly defined on detailed lot listings. Maximum Bids and Single Bids can only be placed within the pre-defined bidding increments ensuring that no two bidders can place identical bids on an item. View individual lot detail pages to see a complete range of bidding increments for that item.
Requests to cancel a single bid are at the sole descretion of the auctioneer. Maximum bids can be increased but cannot be decreased unless premitted by the auctioneer. Requests to cancel a bid or to alter a maximum bid will be denied if the specific lot is scheduled to close in less than 24 hours or if the lot has significant interest or activity.
To request that a bid be cancelled or to change a maximum bid use the "Ask a question" button on the detailed lot listing.
You will receive an email notification when you have successfully won an auction. You will also see the item listed on your "Bidding Results" page and if you are logged into the site you will see a highlighted message on the auction catalogue pages and auction listings.
Shipping requirements may vary on different items depending on location and size or weight of an item. When registering for a specific auction you will be provided options to clarify your preferred shipping instructions. The auctioneer will also review and provide specific shipping quotes or options following the close of an auction. If you have specific shipping requirements or are unsure of the shipping constraints on a specific item please contact the auctioneer prior to bidding.
Following the close of an auction the auctioneer will provide a detailed invoice for all items you have won. They may contact you before a final invoice is prepared to confirm or review specific shipping instructions. Payment is due once a final invoice is provided and can be submitted online by credit card, or made by EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer), bank draft or international wire transfer. Any outstanding balance will be automatically charged to your registered credit card 5 days following the close of an auction.