Sold for: $79,250

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist, 1990s
By descent to the present Private Collection, Alberta

LITERATURE
François Gauthier et al., Serge Lemoyne, Espace Création Loto-Québec, 2012, reproduced page 21

Vibrating with energy and audacious painterly bravura, Sans titre is an electrifying work from Quebec art scene enfant terrible Serge Lemoyne. It is a stunning example from the artist’s celebrated decade-long Bleu-blanc-rouge period. A champion of art’s democratization, Lemoyne was dedicated to producing art that was accessible to everyone. In 1969, he announced at 20/20 Gallery in London, Ontario, that he would restrict his practice to the three emblematic colours of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team - red, white and blue - for the next 10 years. Lemoyne’s abstractions using this culturally significant trio of colours are engaging, since viewers can immediately recognize their pop culture reference. In 1976, Lemoyne revisited some of his 1975 works by taking close-up photos of them and creating new, often more abstract paintings. Sans titre is one of these works; it uses a detail of Cournoyer #12, an important work depicting the Montreal Canadiens player Yvan Serge “The Roadrunner” Cournoyer. The composition’s bold and deliberate planes of colour are vividly contrasted by the gestural painterly drippings.

The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec will present an important Lemoyne retrospective in 2020.

Please note: this work is unframed.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars