Born in 1885, Lawren Stewart Harris was a key figure in Canadian art, and one of the Canadian landscape painters of the Algonquin School, more popularly known today as the Group of Seven. Their belief was that Canadian art could have a distinct character of its own through a direct link with the natural beauty of the country. Lawren Harris was a fine example.

In contrast to the other members, Harris had a love of modernism, and applied this style to his landscape works with great success. He painted a group of images using Baffin Island, the biggest island in Canada, indeed the fifth largest in the world, and one that has an arctic climate. Painted in 1931, ‘Baffin Island’, one of that group, was done in the Art Nouveau style, eschewing realism for a highly stylised look at this bleak and beautiful region. When it was sold in 2001, its price of $2.2m was a record for a Canadian painting, and other works of his have continued to push that skywards.

The original work is done in pastel colours, but the RCM have chosen to reproduce that shading using different finishes, from proof to frosted. It’s a gorgeous rendition, capturing that simplicity without tainting the original in any way. The only inscription here is, appropriately enough, the artist’s initials. By contrast, the obverse is just that effigy of King Charles III, which is normal for the RCM.

A really superb coin that caught my eye immediately, strikingly simple and effective, and a real homage to the artist. I’d be very pleased to see more of his work given this treatment, although in a smaller size. This one is five ounces, and at $679.95 CAD, out of the reach of many. A two-ounce version would be nice, as that seems to be the sweet spot for value and relief. Available now.