CGP CPE CSGA OC OSA P11 RCA
1924 - 1990
Canadian
Space Roulette
oil and Lucite 44 on linen
signed and dated 1959 and on verso signed, titled on a label, dated and inscribed "oil and Lucite 44 on linen from Shea's Theatre, Toronto"
34 x 34 in, 86.4 x 86.4 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $25,000 CAD
Sold for: $22,500
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Estate of Harry John Hodder, Ottawa
A gift to the present Private Estate, Ontario
LITERATURE
Iris Nowell, Harold Town, 2014, page 64
Harold Town’s Space Roulette was produced near the end of the Painters Eleven period (1953 to 1960). This group, which included Town, opened up an exciting new world of Abstract Expressionism to the Canadian art scene. Unlike Montreal’s Refus global artists, Painters Eleven did not create a manifesto, but they issued a statement: “There is no manifesto here for the times, there is no jury but time…there is a profound regard for the consequences of our complete freedom.” Painters Eleven set off a bomb on the Toronto art scene – they had bohemian lifestyles, they were painting abstractly, and they were shown by new dealers, whose spirited exhibitions were regularly covered by the press.
Freedom was important to Town, who kept challenging himself in a prodigious range of styles, techniques and subjects. The 1950s were an exciting and successful time for him – for example, in 1956 the National Gallery chose Town to represent Canada at the 28th Venice Biennale, alongside Jack Shadbolt and Louis Archambault.
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