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LOT 055

CGP CSGA P11
1921 - 1998
Canadian

Summer
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1959 and on verso titled and inscribed "N.F.S."
45 x 48 in, 114.3 x 121.9 cm

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

Sold for: $17,500

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Toronto
Sold sale of Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, September 29, 2007, lot 32
Private Collection, Toronto


While serving as an Royal Air Force officer in the Second World War, Ray Mead suffered a near-fatal incident; after that, he was stationed in Hamilton. The vast North American landscape captured his spirit, echoing through his paintings, as in Beaurepaire Summer, which was included in the National Gallery of Canada’s 1992 – 1993 traveling show The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada: The 1950s. This striking 1959 canvas, while stylistically similar, employs Mead’s favourite colours – shades of orange and green with tightly controlled black lines exuding energy and warmth.

A member of Painters Eleven, Mead was educated at the Slade School of Fine Art, in London, which encouraged his development of a restless formalism where one painterly decision informed the next. He was known to stare at his paintings for hours until struck with a solution, at which point he would jump up and exclaim, “Okay, Mead! Do it!” As he would sit and reflect after a day’s work in the studio, new areas of interest would reveal themselves to him. For the viewer, Mead’s works are completed through prolonged viewing; their essence as abstract images, beyond simply paint on canvas, continues to open and unfold through our intention and active looking.


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

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.