Sold for: $21,060

PROVENANCE
Marlborough-Godard, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

Jean Paul Lemieux filled numerous sketchbooks throughout his career, the contents forming the basis for what were to become major drawings and paintings. He began by using mostly pencil, then pen and ink, and eventually felt pen; these mediums allowed him to create ever-larger works on paper. In 1972 Lemieux added washes of watercolour and ink to his graphic repertoire, resulting in more gestural spontaneity over the white paper ground, but without any loss of his outstanding control of pictorial space. There is always a natural, unstudied symbiosis between the artist’s human subjects and the settings he creates for them. Whether a lone figure on a beach, in a field or emerging from a nest of city buildings, Lemieux’s quiet human forms speak volumes to the viewer. In La veuve, the high-ceilinged room the widow occupies may be brightly lit and open; nonetheless, she sits there as if awaiting her release. Here the artist demonstrates, with simple means, his subject’s physical and psychological isolation.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars