OC RCA
1942 - 2019
Canadian
The Opening
bronze with paint and patina, glass and neon light on a wood base
signed, titled and dated 1988 on a plaque and on verso signed, editioned 3/5 and dated
33 x 17 3/4 x 12 1/2 in, 83.8 x 45.1 x 31.8 cm
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CAD
Sold for: $35,000
Preview at: Heffel Calgary - 220 Manning Road NE, Unit 1080
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Calgary
LITERATURE
Joe Fafard: The Bronze Years, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1996, page 31, reproduced page 51
EXHIBITED
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Joe Fafard: The Bronze Years, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, November 21, 1996 to February 16, 1997, another cast
When Joe Fafard began his artist series in bronze in the early 1980s, the first artists he portrayed were Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Paul Cézanne, monumental figures in international art. These portraits, as Nancy Tousely wrote “construe a brotherhood in the history of art…Fafard is gathering his ancestral figures around him.” Fafard stated that when he was working on a portrait, he consciously evoked the character of the person. In the studio, he assumed the figure’s stance, as Tousley commented, “feeling the set of the limbs and the distribution of weight through his own body. He begins the internalized conversation with the subject that draws the character out.” In Picasso’s stance - feet planted wide apart, pipe in hand, eyes raised in an appraising gaze - the viewer feels the artist’s absolute self-confidence, his assertiveness and power. Fafard set Picasso behind a frame and illuminated by light bars – like the art star that he was. The sculpture is infused with the charisma that Picasso possessed, and the setting communicated his importance in the history of Western art. Fafard used both paint and patina to colour his sculpture with green, blue and golden hues, contributing to the vibrancy of the work. The Opening is alive with the spirit of this iconic painter, sculptor, printmaker and ceramicist, whose work changed the course of modern art.
The sculpture sits on a 33 inch plinth, which conceals the wiring. Please contact Heffel Calgary for shipping information.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.