Sold for: $43,875

PROVENANCE
By descent to the Private Collection, USA
Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 28, 2013, lot 112

LITERATURE
Paul Duval, A.J. Casson, Roberts Gallery, 1975, page 109

Paul Duval notes that “In 1945, as the war drew to a close, Casson’s style took a new and radically different direction. Suddenly, all of the elements in his paintings became highly simplified into formal patterns. Shapes are condensed into knife-edged rectangles and triangles...Design has become paramount.” A.J. Casson did not directly explain this sudden change, but suggested that the end of the war “brought an emotional release and longing for simplicity.” This style would come and go in his work in future decades. In Woodland Pattern, trees are stylized to the point of appearing as abstract sculptures, like emblems of living wood. Light and shadow are accentuated to create a strong sense of depth of space in the forest, and in the foreground, planes are fractured in a cubist manner. Casson selected a harmonious colour palette of greens and golds, washed by sun and contrasted by dark shadowing in the depths of the woods. Woodland Pattern is an outstanding example of Casson’s stylized landscapes, dramatic yet with a stillness of atmosphere that is perfectly crystallized.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars