AANFM ARCA OC QMG
1928 - 2021
Canadian
Arêtes
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1959 and on verso titled and numbered 375
26 1/4 x 24 in, 66.7 x 61 cm
Estimate: $20,000 - $25,000 CAD
Sold for: $46,800
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Quebec
LITERATURE
National Gallery of Canada, Rita Letendre biography, http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artist.php?iartistid=3245, accessed September 12, 2013
With a painting career that started in 1948 and continues to this day, Rita Letendre can be seen as a bridge that connects us with the early days of post-war Quebec art. When she painted this strong but subtle work in 1959, she had just turned 30, but she had already reached a level of artistic maturity that had enabled her to take part in regular exhibitions at the post-Automatist group shows, as well as mount a solo show at Montreal’s Galerie Artek. A devoted pupil of Paul-Émile Borduas, she was, nonetheless, ready to move forward from the work of the Automatists. While the use of the palette knife is reminiscent of the work of Jean-Paul Riopelle, there is something more structured about the composition and the use of colour that makes this work so individual in concept and execution, so distinctly Letendre. The title Arêtes is somewhat ambiguous, but most probably refers to a jagged mountain ridge. This could be seen as a reflection of her interest in the expressive power of nature. But, as the artist herself has said, “All the terminology is not important. What is important is the actual painting.”
Estimate: $20,000 - $25,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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