PROVENANCE
Estate of the Artist
André Bieler, Montreal, 1934
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Vancouver Island
Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 26, 2010, lot 114
The Collection of Torben V. Kristiansen, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Nicole Cloutier, James Wilson Morrice, 1865 - 1924, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1986, essay by John O’Brian, page 90
Charles C. Hill, Morrice: A Gift to the Nation, National Gallery of Canada, 1992, page 22

James Wilson Morrice is universally regarded as a pivotal figure in Canadian art, and his influence on later Canadian art and artists cannot be underestimated. An admirer of Morrice, fellow Canadian artist André Bieler once had Café—Paris in his own collection. As a young artist Morrice moved to Paris, and John O’Brian states that Morrice’s “love of Paris … [is] closely bound up with the qualities and characteristics of his art.” Like many artists of his generation, Morrice rejected the classical mythologies and historical narratives of academic art for the pleasures and activity of contemporary Parisian life. Café—Paris is an example of the artist’s use of small, transportable wooden panels called pochades to execute oil sketches of urban subjects. Morrice tended to leave part of the panel visible, and thus the wood becomes a tonal element juxtaposed with the subtle colour effects. Despite the pochade's modest scale, Morrice’s affectionate feeling for street life is fully manifested within Café—Paris and shows the artist at his most accomplished.

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

All prices are in Canadian Dollars