Sold for: $35,400

PROVENANCE
Peter and Joanne Brown Collection, Vancouver
Sold sale of The Peter & Joanne Brown Collection, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 23, 2016, lot 246

LITERATURE
Terrence Heath, Joe Fafard, National Gallery of Canada and MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2007, page 162

Towering figures in the history of art are included in Joe Fafard’s artists series in bronze and clay—Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Renoir and here, Paul Cézanne. Cézanne was considered a bridge between Impressionism and Cubism, and Picasso, who called him “the father of us all,” even went so far as to say that Cézanne was his only master.

In his bronzes, Fafard demonstrates an inventive use of space, as his works range from fully three-dimensional works to two-dimensional cut-outs. Terrence Heath wrote that Fafard “studied the work of sculptors of many cultures who played with the facets, outlines or edges of their sculptures to create a desired visual effect.” In Cézanne II, the front is three-dimensional but the back is flat and hollowed out. From the front, the sculpture creates the illusion of completeness, something which fascinated Fafard.

As with all the works in the artists series, Fafard infuses Cézanne II with the personality of the artist, and here his mood is composed and thoughtful. The artist’s gnarled hands, shaped by his work, are a particularly poignant element in this eloquent sculpture.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars