Sold for: $38,350

PROVENANCE
Charles Trudeau, Montreal (brother of Pierre Trudeau, former prime minister of Canada, and uncle of Justin Trudeau, current prime minister)
Peter Ohler Fine Arts Ltd., Vancouver
Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Donald W. Buchanan and Paul Gladu, Alfred Pellan, National Gallery of Canada, 1960, listed, unpaginated
Guy Robert, Pellan: His Life and Art, 1963, reproduced page 21, titled as Nature morte au litre, listed page 129
Germain Lefebvre, Pellan, 1973, page 21
Germain Lefebvre, Pellan: sa vie, son art, son temps, 1986, reproduced page 34

EXHIBITED
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Alfred Pellan, October 13 - November 6, 1960, traveling to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; the Musée du Québec, Quebec City; and the Art Gallery of Toronto, 1961, catalogue #13

On verso inscribed "No. 76" and "Collection = Charles Elliott Trudeau, Chemin de la Rivière a Simon, St-Sauveur-des-monts, Cte Terrebonne, PQ, Canada"

In 1926, at just 20 years old, Canadian modernist Alfred Pellan was awarded a grant from the Quebec government to study in Paris. At the time, the city was bustling with art and theatre—Germain Lefebvre described it as “the mecca of art and thought”—and the young Pellan reveled in the energy and inspiration. Nature morte au litre de vin was painted during this Parisian period, and the influence from School of Paris artists Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse is evident. The slightly skewed perspective, bold and contrasting colour choices, and composition filling the canvas are signatures of still lifes from this era, but Pellan makes this still life his own by rendering his objects with realistic scale and form. Painted in 1936, this important painting was once in the collection of Charles Trudeau, brother of Pierre Trudeau, former prime minister of Canada, and uncle of Justin Trudeau, the current prime minister, and is an excellent example from the early part of Pellan’s long and successful career.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars