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LOT 035

CGP CSGA CSPWC P11
1926 - 2002
Canadian

Four Horizons, Reflections
oil on canvas
on verso signed, titled on a label, dated 1967 and inscribed "Toronto 9"
45 x 43 in, 114.3 x 109.2 cm

Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 CAD

Sold for: $55,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Margery Steele, Toronto, 1967
By descent to the present Private Collection, Ontario


Kazuo Nakamura was one of the founding members of Painters Eleven, a group of Toronto-based painters who showed together between 1953 and 1960, with a focus on abstraction. Near the end of this period, Nakamura developed and explored his interest in science, striving to find the intersections between art, nature, science, abstraction and geometry, believing that these shared universal patterns. This interest was expressed in the frequent oscillation between representation and abstraction seen throughout his career.

This work, produced in the decade following the dissolution of Painters Eleven, is a superb example of the artist’s “reflection” paintings. In these works, a high horizon line of blue-green forest stretches across an open lake, the sky and trees reflected delicately in the water in intricate patterns. In Four Horizons, Reflections, the scene is refracted and kaleidoscoped, reoriented from a horizontal landscape into the form of repeating, tessellated squares. The prismatic geometry is bordered by a bluish-white field - perhaps the sky above the treeline, itself reflected - making the abstracted “landscape” appear to float in an indeterminate void. The vast emptiness of the landscape is deflected through the shimmering compound lens of abstraction, showcasing Nakamura’s ability to find pattern and order in the natural world.


Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000 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.