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LOT 081

BCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA
1909 - 1998
Canadian

Behind the Wire
ink and watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1947 and on verso signed, titled and dated
22 5/8 x 30 7/8 in, 57.5 x 78.4 cm

Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 CAD

Sold for: $18,720

Preview at: Heffel Vancouver

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt, 1990, pages 34 and 36


Jack Shadbolt was transferred to London, England in 1945 to serve as an administrative officer for the Official Canadian Army War Artists Programme. After the end of the Second War War, Shadbolt processed the photographs coming in from German concentration camps such as Belsen, Buchenwald and Auschwitz. The impact of these photographs was overwhelming, and Shadbolt wrote, “I found the experience devastating. For some time after this, I had the need for a violent image of pathos to relieve my feelings, in my work.....and to express my outrage.” Shadbolt depicted both the ruins in London and images directly from the photographs that he saw, such as this searingly unforgettable watercolour. Powerful images such as this were in the style of social realism that Shadbolt had been using since the 1930s. But it was because of this experience and the explosive changes brought on by the war, the Holocaust and the dawning of the atomic age that Shadbolt would later turn to abstraction, which he felt could fully express the anxieties of modern life after the war.


Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000 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.