AANFM CAS PY QMG
1910 - 2007
Canadian
Mer du sud
oil on linen
signed and dated 1974 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed "huile 40F"
32 1/4 x 40 1/4 in, 81.9 x 102.2 cm
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CAD
Sold for: $31,250
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave
PROVENANCE
Acquired from Claus E. Damkjar Galleries Ltd., Burlington, by the present Private Collection, Ontario
LITERATURE
Guy Robert, Bellefleur: The Fervour of the Quest, 1988, page 15
“It’s like dreaming—in technicolor, of course! Painting is like making music, poetry, films; they all go so far beyond sounds, words and images, and it’s what goes beyond that counts the most.”
—Léon Bellefleur
In 1948, Léon Bellefleur signed the manifesto of Prisme d’Yeux, a group of freedom-seeking Quebec artists led by Alfred Pellan. Bellefleur was interested in Surrealism and its exploration of the unconscious, and he was also influenced by Wassily Kandinsky and Joan Miró. Bellefleur traveled to Paris in 1954, and he spent a decade traveling through Europe, including the South of France, returning to Quebec permanently in 1966. By the 1970s the market for his works had grown, and he was able to travel more—including to France once again, which is possibly the inspirational source of this work’s title. In Mer du sud, Bellefleur painted with layers of rich pigments. Triangular and square shapes float across the centre, breaking up to show the paint beneath. Bright splashes of colour further enliven the surface of this sumptuous canvas, Bellefleur’s expression of, in his words, “chance and mystery.”
Estimate: $15,000 - $20,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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