ARCA
1934 - 2003
Canadian
Whitelove / Shift Whitelove / Decalage
oil on canvas
on verso signed twice, titled, dated 1969 and inscribed "Montreal"
58 1/2 x 68 1/2 in, 148.6 x 174 cm
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 CAD
Sold for: $25,000
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal
Acquired from the above by the present Important Private Collection, Montreal, then California
LITERATURE
Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007, page 204
This oil on canvas is exemplary of Charles Gagnon’s 1960s work. This period began with his return to Montreal from New York, after studying at the Parsons School of Design and the New York School of Interior Design. Although his compositions became more simplified and his palette reduced, the artist’s painterly energy is palpable. Here, he covers the surface of the work with a richly textured field of white and grey, “framed” by an off-white outline. Gagnon’s range and quality of his brush-strokes is remarkable, resulting in a work that is far from homogeneous. He reveals the myriad different tonalities of white and grey with gestural strokes of varying length, width and thickness. Gagnon produced only a few works every decade, and his painting was always a purposeful act - nothing was left to chance - resulting in an extremely coherent and powerful oeuvre. With few, if any, roots in either the Automatist or Plasticien movements, his body of work is truly unique. In the words of Roald Nasgaard: “Gagnon’s work is a confirmation that painting can at once be abstract, representational, figurative and conceptual.”
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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