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ONLINE AUCTION
Post-War & Contemporary Art | Part One
4th Session

September 02 - September 30, 2021

LOT DETAILS
         
         
         
         

This session is closed for bidding.
Current bid: $13,000 CAD
Bidding History
Paddle # Date Amount

1846 30-Sep-2021 03:58:43 PM $13,000

824320 30-Sep-2021 03:56:53 PM $12,000

1846 30-Sep-2021 03:51:25 PM $11,000

The bidding history list updated on: Thursday, March 28, 2024 10:20:48

LOT 316

ARCA OC OSA
1927 - 1977
Canadian

Darling Fluffy Little Things
mixed media on board
signed and dated 1970 and on verso titled, dated and inscribed "HMT"
8 x 8 in, 20.3 x 20.3 cm

Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CAD

Sold for: $16,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
The Isaacs Gallery Ltd., Toronto
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
William Kurelek, Kurelek's Canada, 1975, page 33


In Kurelek’s Canada, the artist recalled that out West, the kitchen was “often the only warm room in the house and we all gathered there.” For Kurelek, the stove becomes emblematic of the family, acting as a source of heat, as a valuable tool, and as a social centre. The warmth of the domestic hearth is evident here.

As seen in many of Kurelek’s paintings, the scene is propelled by a sense of nostalgia for rural life and the pleasure of small moments - intimate, cozy, and perhaps slightly wistful. A home-made crèche filled with newborn chicks is placed next to a lit kitchen stove, glowing with the warmth of heavy use. A curious girl peeks in from the edge of the frame, leaning over the makeshift walls to watch the small birds huddling against the warmth of the stove, or pecking aimlessly at the ground. She is fascinated by the little things, and her adoration gives us the painting’s title. The orange glow of the fire radiates out and is reflected off the kettle put on the boil, while the repeated colour of the girl’s top suggests that a more familial warmth can be found throughout the rest of the home. This sense of domestic intimacy is further extended out through the artist-made frame that houses the painting, recalling the edging of the stove’s doors and giving the entire surface of the work a smouldering, interior radiance.

This work is in the original frame made by Kurelek.


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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