Sold for: $67,250

PROVENANCE
Collection of the family of Paul-Vanier Beaulieu, Laval

Born to Abenaki and Québécois parents, Rita Letendre was first introduced to Paul-Émile Borduas and the Automatists during her studies at the École des beaux-arts in Montreal. By 1950, she was committed to the Automatists’ gestural approach to abstraction, and her works were shown alongside theirs in seminal exhibitions such as La matière chante at Galerie Antoine in 1954 and Espace 55, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Her works from the mid-1950s through the 1960s reveal her own unique approach to abstraction, which drew not only on the gestural approach of the Automatists but also on influences such as Franz Kline, whom she particularly admired. During this period, she experimented with a grid-like application of pigments using a palette knife, resulting in a dense surface of tesserae. Layered generously and confidently onto the canvas, the paint takes on a seductive quality. It is tactile and sensuous, with a complex network of textured ridges and creases created by the edges of the spatula. In Angoisse, Letendre builds up a large expanse of lustrous black, creating a negative space. Simple touches of luminous white layered on top of golden orange, juxtaposed with olive-green slabs, give the work its soul, its life and vibrancy. Lush and magnetic, Angoisse is a stunning canvas from Letendre’s early Automatist period.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars