Sold for: $99,450

PROVENANCE
Loch Mayberry Fine Art Inc., Winnipeg
Private Collection, Saskatoon
Sold sale of Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 28, 2013, lot 9

William Kurelek often drew on memories of his Manitoba childhood for source material for his paintings depicting Prairie life. Feeding pigs, harvesting corn, gathering eggs and other typical farm chores are often subjects. His depictions of children engaged in simple play are especially charming. They sled on frozen haystacks, tunnel through drifts of winter snow, and dance under a starry sky. Here, three children delight in a Prairie downpour as the vast, cloud-filled sky unleashes rain and soaks the flat land, which puddles with water before it is absorbed or drains away. One boy opens his shirt and dances, arms outstretched, head down, while another raises his face and hands to the sky. A girl in the distance hoists up her dress while she stands ankle deep in water. It is a charming scene of children delighting in the cooling rain that comes with a summer storm, painted with exacting Kurelek precision and carefully balanced colour. The distant buildings, which echo the colours of the children’s clothing, stand as if in silent, stoic witness to the scene.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars