Sold for: $34,250

PROVENANCE
National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Ottawa
Private Collection, Ontario

LITERATURE
Constance Naubert-Riser, Jean McEwen: Colour in Depth, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1987, page 19, a similar 1962 work entitled T - Noir, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, reproduced page 82

EXHIBITED
National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Ottawa Section, Exhibition and Sale of Works by Leading Canadian Artists from Coast to Coast

The works Jean McEwen produced between 1960 and 1963 were dominated by a strong vertical presence, and our 1 - Noir and T – Noir, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, are excellent examples of this phase in McEwen’s career. As Constance Naubert-Riser explained, “McEwen has devoted his entire creative output to exploring the power of colour while providing it with a structure, all with the aim of revealing the qualities of depth inherent to it.” In 1 - Noir McEwen explored the materiality of the paint itself by successively layering opaque and translucent pigments, while structuring the painting in a binary manner. Fiery panels flank the cavernous centre track, while offset squares of mustard and inky brown define the right and upper edges of the canvas.

In 1958, the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada established the Exhibition and Sale of Works by Leading Canadian Artists from Coast to Coast, with all proceeds going to the council, a volunteer organization founded in 1897 in Toronto. 1 – Noir was acquired from one such exhibition by a private collector in Ontario and has remained in that collection ever since.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars