PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Toronto
Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 24, 2011, lot 66
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Ian Thom and Andrew Hunter, Gordon Smith: The Act of Painting, pages 1, 28 and 30, a similar 1960 oil entitled Nancledra reproduced page 29

Ian Thom quotes Gordon Smith as saying, “Painting should be a re-creation of an experience rather than an illustration of an experience.” This concept is at the heart of each of his works, as exemplified in Snowscape #1. In 1960, Smith was awarded a Canada Council fellowship, and he took a year to travel and focus on his art. While in England, he rediscovered the works of J.M.W. Turner, which would prove to have a lasting impression on him. Thom notes that Smith was “particularly struck by the freedom of Turner’s technique—his willingness to thin and scumble paint, to use any means necessary … to achieve the desired result.”

In Snowscape #1, the influence of Turner’s technique can be seen in Smith’s method of conveying light and atmosphere, as he recreates the experience of a winter landscape through pale, softly modulated colour fields contrasted with precise gestural brush-strokes of colour in the centre. These elements combine to create a work that demands to be seen not as a static illustration but as a moment in time waiting to be experienced once again.

For the biography on Torben V. Kristiansen in PDF format, please click here.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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