LOT 047

ARCA CGP OSA P11
1917 - 1996
Canadian

Island
oil on canvas on board, 1958
signed and on verso signed and titled
20 x 30 in, 50.8 x 76.2 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

Sold for: $28,125

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Isaacs Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario
Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, June 17, 2009, lot 39
Acquired from the above by an Important Private Collection, Montreal

LITERATURE
Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007, page 97


Painters Eleven was a thought-provoking and progressive artistic group whose first meeting was in 1953 in Toronto. Their focus drove Walter Yarwood to experiment with new elements in tightly organized abstract works such as Island. Barrie Hale, a critic of the period, saw this new painting form take shape and coined it “The Toronto Look.” He further stated that “the jeopardy of gesture, the path of the artist’s hand … over the surface of the painting, the orchestration of the artist’s entire means toward the final work itself—these stamp the Toronto artist of the time as clearly as the compulsion to shake the ‘respectability’ of the establishment painters that preceded them stamped their lives.”

Fellow Painters Eleven artist Oscar Cahén influenced Yarwood greatly throughout his career. Cahén had a European German Expressionist aesthetic derived from his training in Europe, which Yarwood adapted in his abstracts. The use of indistinct images, central blocks of isolated colour and broad gestural brush-strokes are all present in this dynamic composition.


Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.