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LOT 151

ARCA
1888 - 1970
Canadian

Printemps à Hochelaga
oil on canvas on board, circa 1927 - 1940
signed and titled on the plaque and on verso inscribed "Hoch" / "788A - LR" / "Form 005" / "54"
12 1/4 x 14 7/8 in, 31.1 x 37.8 cm

Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD

Sold for: $40,250

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Galerie d'art Michel Bigué, Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts
Private Collection, Montreal

LITERATURE
Michèle Grandbois, Marc-Aurèle Fortin: The Experience of Colour, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2011, page 110
Canadian, Impressionist & Modern Art catalogue, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Spring 2019, essay by Michèle Grandbois for Paysage à Hochelaga, page 25


“Sundays, I didn’t know what to do, so I walked along the railway track that ran below St. Catherine Street all the way up Hochelaga. There I would sit a hundred times in the same place. And I painted all sorts of subjects…I did a water-colour each outing. Sometimes I did two.”

— Marc-Aurèle Fortin

From 1925 to 1933, Marc-Aurèle Fortin lived in Montreal, on Notre-Dame Street East. From his window he witnessed the construction of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, as well as the industrialization of the working-class neighbourhood of Hochelaga, on the east side of the city. Fortin depicted these changes throughout the 1930s in his many views of Hochelaga, of which Printemps à Hochelaga is a prime example. Power lines, roads and modern dwellings are faithfully recorded, reflecting the changing fabric of the city and its modernization. Nonetheless, nature remains present in this work, with the mountains receding in the background, the bright blue sky and the large tree at the centre—reminiscent of the artist’s 1920s “tall trees” period. Regarding Fortin’s juxtaposition of urban and rural elements, art historian Michèle Grandbois wrote regarding another similar work (Paysage à Hochelaga, Heffel May 2019), “This skilful arrangement admirably embodies the painter’s vision, depicting past and present, growing urban occupation and the mighty power of nature.”


Estimate: $15,000 - $25,000 CAD

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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