Sold for: $44,250

PROVENANCE
Estate of Dr. and Mrs. William F. Bie, British Columbia

A pivotal trip to San Francisco in 1951 to study at the California School of Fine Arts brought Gordon Smith into the realm of the American Abstract Expressionists, and brought his attention to their emphasis on the qualities of paint and the act of painting. This influence continued to affect him, although the landscape proved to have an inescapable pull. Here, Victoria's harbour provides the basis for this painting, its structures compressed into a central horizontal band across the surface, which is contrasted by the vertical movement of the planes of water below. Colour, light and mood dominate, and rich blues of water and sky and patches and streaks of brilliant white through the city create a summery, seaside ambience. Smith shows his fine colour sense by adding touches of red and orange to warm the coolness. His soft, brushy paintwork in modulated planes is balanced by the structural shapes of the buildings at the waterfront, which are emphasized by black lines. Victoria Harbour is a fine modernist work by Smith, striking for both the lush physicality of its paint and its transcendent West Coast atmosphere.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars