Sold for: $23,600

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Toronto
Sold sale of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 23, 2016, lot 24

LITERATURE
"Rita Letendre," CCCA Canadian Art Database, reproduced, http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/artist_info.html?languagePref=en&link_id=1456&artist=Rita+Letendre, accessed July 7, 2016

Painted shortly before Rita Letendre’s major solo exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1961, Caravane comes from an important and dynamic time in the artist’s career, not only professionally but also stylistically. Indeed, she started to dedicate herself entirely to painting and had her works shown more extensively at the beginning of the 1960s. Her works from this period are highly indebted to the Automatists’ revolutionary and expressive approach to abstraction. They are spirited and intense, and this piece is no exception. Over a stormy black backdrop, Letendre builds a textured coat of light brown paint at the centre of the composition. By dragging her palette knife through the layers of pigment, she reveals touches of light blue and white underneath. Expressive white, amethyst and bright red shapes seem to dance along a horizontal axis at the forefront. Her use of texture and contrasting colours creates a vibrant composition, demonstrating the full extent of Letendre’s understanding of gesture and drama.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars