AANFM RCA
1925 - 2002
Canadian
Untitled
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1957 and on verso inscribed "8"
30 x 36 in, 76.2 x 91.4 cm
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 CAD
Sold for: $73,250
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Art 45, Montreal
Collection of Blema and H. Arnold Steinberg, Montreal, 1989
Estate of Blema and H. Arnold Steinberg, Montreal
LITERATURE
Matthew Teitelbaum, Paterson Ewen: The Montreal Years, Mendel Art Gallery, 1987, page 20
In the years following the 1955 exhibition Espace 55 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where his work Untitled (lot 21 in this sale) was shown, Paterson Ewen traveled frequently to New York, attending and organizing exhibitions. Exposed to new influences, he experimented with the structure and style of his abstract works throughout the second half of the 1950s. While he was interested in geometric order and shared the Plasticiens’ “flat, Cubist space,” as described by curator Matthew Teitelbaum, he favoured a more gestural approach to painting over their hard edges. This is perfectly exemplified in Untitled, a lively and expressive composition. Here, he arranges a complex structure of richly coloured forms applied in painterly dabs. Yellow, apricot, navy, teal, black and white flattened shapes cluster together over a white and slate background. The dynamically contrasting colours and the delicate balance between light and dark together create tension between background and foreground, inviting the viewer’s eye to move throughout the flowing composition.
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000 CAD
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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