AANFM AAP ASQ
1929 -
Canadian
Sans titre
acrylic on blue paper
signed and dated 2009 and on verso signed, dated 26 sept 2009 and inscribed with the inventory number 132 (circled) and "Thedford Mines"
10 x 11 3/4 in, 25.4 x 29.8 cm
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CAD
Sold for: $4,063
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Collection of the Artist
Armand Vaillancourt was born in Black Lake in 1929 and raised on a farm in St-Ferdinand, in a time when everything was done by hand. Vaillancourt arrived in Montreal in 1951, bringing the boundless energy of a pioneer. The artist first entered the public eye in 1953 with his debut public work, L’Arbre de la rue Durocher. As Marie-Ève Beaulé wrote, “This essential work by Vaillancourt marks the beginning of modern sculpture in Quebec.”(1) Today at age 92, Vaillancourt the sculptor and painter— one of the fathers of modern sculpture in Canada and master of material expressionism—maintains an influential presence in the art world. Since the early 1980s, his body of work has been enriched by his passionate painting practice from which is taken this selection of works chosen by the artist. We are very proud to collaborate with Heffel Fine Art Auction House for this inaugural sale.
Driven by a consuming fascination with material, Vaillancourt utilizes an array of formats, colours, textures and supports. Here he embraces the inherent qualities of the material, emphasizing the midnight blue background by playing with the translucency of the paint to reveal the texture of the support. The painting’s effect is one of vivid contrasts and a vibrant play of light, testimony to the artist’s fervent exploration of the Abstract Expressionist gesture.
1. Marie-Ève Beaulé, Inter: art actuel, no. 111, 2012.
We thank Joanne Beaulieu, vice-president of the Fondation Armand-Vaillancourt, for contributing the original French essay.
Although we tend to think of Armand Vaillancourt as an artist who chisels more than he paints, it is time to take a closer look at his signature expressionism in paint. An inventive and extraordinary creator with wide-ranging interests, his prodigious pictorial output has been a constant throughout his career. His paintings, drawings and prints have always expressed his passion for the role of art in society, with every work a performative clash of energies in which the creative impulse of colours dominates both material and tool—all is movement and action in his hands. In this sense, Vaillancourt is a media figure, inseparable from his work as the herald of the struggle for greater social justice. He expresses the gestural poetry of being alive—cutting pieces of daily life into letters, lines, figures and abstract shapes. Therein lies the rightness and relevance of Vaillancourt’s paintings - neither splintered nor fragmented, each of his works contains the full fervour of his life made art.
We thank Guy Sioui Durand, Wendat, sociologist, art critic and independent curator, contributing the original French essay.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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