ARCA CSGA OC
1935 - 2022
Canadian
Crab Plant on the Bay of the Islands: New Colours of Newfoundland
mixed media on paper
signed, titled, dated 2009 and inscribed "CC Plant April 2009" and on verso signed, titled and dated
19 3/4 x 37 3/4 in, 50.2 x 95.9 cm
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CAD
Sold for: $14,040
Preview at: Heffel Vancouver
PROVENANCE
Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver
Estate of James M. Brickley, Vancouver
LITERATURE
Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Christopher Pratt: All My Own Work, National Gallery of Canada, 2005, page 100
Christopher Pratt’s subjects of working structures have included freight and salt sheds, towers, trains, abandoned whaling stations and, in this evocative work, a crab plant. In Pratt’s reductive realist images, each element is carefully considered, particularly light. He stated, “The most important thing in my work is light. Composition and design are important elements in any two-dimensional art, but in mine they are the bones, and light is the flesh and blood. It is an essential metaphor for life.” In this image, a pale glow on the horizon, either dawn or dusk, lights the scene, as does a single streetlamp beside the plant – an interesting contrast between natural and artificial light. Typical of Pratt’s work, the structures of the crab plant show Pratt’s awareness of line and perspective. The light revealing these features is very subtle, a product of successive stages of refinement. Pratt explained, “I may spend weeks just glazing in lights and darks, building up contrasts...tuning them so that the light ‘does it’. When I decide I’ve gotten there, then I have that thirty-second rush.”
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 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.