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LOT 004

BCSFA CGP CSGA OC RAIC RCA
1909 - 1976
Canadian

Various Forms in Space
oil on burlap on board
signed and on verso signed, titled and dated 1956 on a label
9 1/4 x 16 in, 23.5 x 40.6 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

Sold for: $31,250

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Winchester Galleries, Victoria
Ballard Fine Art, Vancouver
Private Collection, Vancouver, 2016

LITERATURE
Doreen Walker, B.C. Binning: A Classical Spirit, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1986, unpaginated
Robert Amos, "Collector's Choice Focusses on Early Works of Famous Senior Artists," Times Colonist, January 17, 2002, reproduced page D6

EXHIBITED
Winchester Galleries, Victoria, Collector's Choice, 2002


B.C. Binning was an influential early modernist on the West Coast scene. He was an educator who founded the Department of Fine Arts at the University of British Columbia and a renowned artist who exhibited internationally. In his paintings he used shapes abstracted from nautical forms, such as ship’s wheels and navigational devices, as well as geometrical forms, linked together by lines. In the centre of this superlative work is the motif of the black sun, a form he used up until the 1960s.

Binning’s paintings are linear, ordered and architectural, yet they have a sense of playfulness and inner joy. As he so eloquently stated about his work, “I do like joy…I do like order. I think my work plays between two sides of me: there is a certain joy and fun - perhaps even wit - but this seems to vacillate every now and then between another extreme of plain coolness - which I call a classic sense.” As he did here, Binning sometimes painted on burlap, particularly from the mid-1950s, creating textured surfaces that provide an organic contrast to his more formal and brilliantly coloured shapes.


Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 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.