Sold for: $13,750

PROVENANCE
Waddington Galleries, Montreal
Estate of James Borcoman, Ottawa

LITERATURE
James Borcoman, Goodridge Roberts: A Retrospective Catalogue, National Gallery of Canada, 1969, page 144 and reproduced

EXHIBITED
An exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Canada and held at The Tate Gallery, London, Canadian Painting 1939 - 1963, February 7 - 22 March, 1964, catalogue #10
The Vancouver Art Gallery, Images for a Canadian Heritage, September 20 - October 30, 1966, catalogue #94
Canadian Government Pavilion, Expo 1967, Montreal, Canadian Painting Exhibition, catalogue #12
The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Goodridge Roberts: A Retrospective, August 1969 to April 1970, traveling to The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Confederation Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Musée de Quebec, London Public Library and Art Museum, catalogue #128

JAMES BORCOMAN (1926 ~ 2019)

During a career that covered thirty-four years at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, James Borcoman held a variety of positions, including Director of Exhibitions and Education, Head of Publications, Senior Curator of Photographs from 1971, and Chairperson of the Prints, Drawings and Photographs Collections.

He was a pioneer in promoting photography as an art form in Canada, having established the Photographs Collection at the National Gallery in 1967 which was the first of its kind in Canada and nurtured its growth to over 19,000 objects, resulting in a collection that has achieved a reputation both for the quality of its nineteenth and twentieth century holdings and for the excellence of its exhibitions and publications.

While at the National Gallery he was responsible for 47 exhibitions. This included Goodridge Roberts: A Retrospective Exhibition in 1969 and its accompanying catalogue.

Borcoman was awarded the Order of Canada in 2014 and honorary doctorates from Concordia University in Montreal and Carleton in Ottawa for his contribution to fine arts in Canada including the launching of the career of many artists. Upon his retirement, he was made the only Curator Emeritus at the National Gallery of Canada and continuing into his late 80s researching and writing books and essays on the history of photography.

To read more about James Borcoman’s life, please click here.

Nude on Red Cloth is a highlight in James Borcoman’s collection. This exquisite painting by Goodridge Roberts could perhaps be considered one of his finest nudes. Its prestigious exhibition history is truly extrodinary, having been included in The Tate 's exhibition of Canadian Painting in 1964 along with several other prominent museum shows in Canada. As written and curated by James Borcoman, in the catalogue that corresponds to the National Gallery of Canada's retrospective exhibition on the artist, this work was "one of a series of nudes painted during the winter of 1961 -1962 with the same monumental treatment and use of strong impressionsitic colour. They represent a departure from the artist's preceding nudes not only because of the colour but also because of the relationship of the figure to the picture."

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