2017 May | Hodgins Art Auctions

Notes:

signed & dated recto; signed, titled & dated verso; inscribed with artist’s inventory #430
Provenance: Estate of the Artist

Early in her career, Odjig attempted to move beyond her native heritage – perhaps leave it behind – but cultural and political developments in the early sixties intervened. The newly granted right to vote and the resurgence of first nations traditions, spurred a spiritual reawakening and sense of “Indian pride” within indigenous communities. Odjig’s own community of Wikwemikong (Bay of the Beaver), hosted the first modern pow wow in Ontario in 1961, bringing back and celebrating the traditions of dancing, drumming and story-telling. Odjig attended the Wiki Pow Wow in 1964; she was presented with a ceremonial dress and invited to participate with her friends and relatives. In “Daphne Odjig” (National Gallery of Canada; 2007) Bonnie Devine writes of the event: “Odjig recalls that she went into the dancing circle reticent and uncertain. She was forty-five years old and had spent more than half her life trying to forget she was a Native woman. ‘But I began to dance to the drum. And I became Indian’.” This experience profoundly affected her personal and artistic development, and the images of her Ojibwa ancestry would soon become an integral part of her work.

Odjig continued to attend Pow Wows throughout her life. Shortly before the execution of this canvas, Odjig attended a Pow Wow in Alberta. While seldom speaking much about her paintings, Odjig would later speak of this one, telling her family that following this event the images of the spirit dancers came to her in a dream…she felt compelled to paint them. The painting resonated with her and she kept the piece as part of her personal collection.

Odjig notably said: “I see my paintings as a celebration of life. My sub-conscious mind may well dictate some content and I’m content to leave it at that. I am uncomfortable with words—my paintings are perhaps my most honest and legitimate statement.”

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signed

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signed & titled

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signed; titled on label verso

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signed, titled & dated
Provenance: Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal, QC (label verso)

Born in Montreal, Little received his early training under Arthur Lismer and Goodridge Roberts at the Art Association of Montreal (now the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), and at the Art Students’ League in New York. After returning to Montreal, Little worked as a draughtsman for his father’s architectural firm and as an illustrator before dedicating himself to painting full-time. In 1953. Little’s early characterizations of Montreal, Quebec City, and the surrounding countryside caught the attention of a well-respected art dealer, William Watson, who offered Little his first show at Watson Art Galleries. Many exhibitions at numerous galleries followed over his long career.

Little’s interest in architecture, and in the changing face of Quebec’s historical buildings and neighbourhoods, particularly in Montreal and Quebec City, would guide his work for the next six decades. Little’s work received critical acclaim and became highly sought after, not only because of his artistic abilities, but for his vision, and dedication to the preservation of the urban core. Lauding his exhibition in a Gazette article in 1964, Dorothy Pfeiffer observed:

“Those bemoaning the seemingly ruthless demolition of hundreds of Montreal’s gracious old-world homes and other buildings, the disappearance in the name of progress of various little private nooks and parks, and the often callous disposal of dignified stone pillars and amusing cornices will gain nostalgic pleasure from John Little’s show, for he has dedicated his painting to the preservation of such items for posterity. Yet so spirited and relaxed is his painting technique, that his work can in no manner today be labeled as merely documentary.”

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signed & titled

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signed

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signed
Provenance: Former collection of the Seaman family

Notes:

signed; titled on artist’s label verso