2019 December | Hodgins Art Auctions

Notes:

signed & dated lower right

Provenance: Formerly from the collection of art dealer Gerard Gorce, Montreal QC; Masters Gallery, Calgary AB

Montreal-born Marcel Barbeau is an important figure in Quebec contemporary art. Barbeau studied at the Ecole du Meuble (1942-1947) under Paul-Emile Borduas. In 1948, he became one of the original signatories of Borduas’ groundbreaking manifesto “Refus Global” and, as an active member of the Automatistes, he exhibited in every major exhibition by the group.

Beginning in 1952, the artist began to travel extensively, living and working internationally, with exhibits in the United States, Europe, Canada and North Africa. By the late 1950s, his gestural work had begun to evolve, eventually reflecting a more structured and geometric approach.

Marcel Barbeau’s career spanned seven decades. A retrospective exhibition was held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1969; an exhibition of his post-Automatiste work (late 1950s-early 1960s) was held in Paris in 1971; and the Musee National des Beaux-arts du Quebec mounted “Marcel Barbeau: in Motion”, a major retrospective of Barbeau’s work in 2018, the same year that saw the establishment of the Marcel Barbeau Foundation.

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signed & dated lower left; titled verso

Provenance: Marlborough Godard, Toronto ON/Montreal QC; Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary AB

Exhibited: “Jean McEwen”, Saskatoon Gallery & Conservatory Corporation, Saskatoon SK, August 29 -September 23, 1979 (No. L79-223-10)

Jean McEwen was born in Montreal to a Scottish father and French Canadian mother. He was essentially self-taught, driven by a strong interest in art and poetry. While completing his Pharmacy Degree at the University of Montreal, he simultaneously painted and became a published poet. In 1949, his submission to the 66th annual Spring Salon at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was well-received. At this time, McEwen struck up what would become an enduring friendship with Paul-Emile Borduas. His contact with Borduas, and visits to his home, led McEwen on a path towards artistic experimentation. In 1951 McEwen held his first one-man show at Galerie Agnes Lefort. He was subsequently encouraged to travel to Paris, where Borduas put him in touch with Jean-Paul Riopelle. McEwen spent the following two years years in France and Spain, touring museums, painting, exhibiting, and making connections within the artistic community. The Paris years were impactful, and by the time the artist returned to Montreal in 1953, his work had been transformed.

McEwen drew influence from the spontaneity of the Automatistes, from the French schools of Impressionism and Lyrical Abstraction, and from the non-figural abstraction that characterized the work of the American Expressionists of the time. McEwen’s work, however, remained distinct from any of these schools. His was a more deliberate exploration of colour, light and gesture, skillfully layering opaque and translucent paint into sensuous constructions.

McEwen was able to dedicate himself entirely to painting in 1973, when he finally retired from the pharmaceutical industry. In 1977, he received the Victor Lynch-Staunton award (for distinguished artistic contribution in Canada). This enabled him to work in Paris once again, from September 1977 to June 1978. It was during this second sojourn in Paris that this work, from the Suite Parisienne, was painted. The Suite was exhibited at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris during the summer of 1978, then again upon McEwen’s return to Canada, at the Mira Godard Gallery, in March of 1979.

Jean McEwen exhibited extensively, both in Canada and internationally, during his career; his work is represented in numerous public collections. A major retrospective of Jean McEwen’s art was held in 1987 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Notes:

signed lower right; signed & titled verso

Notes:

signed & dated lower left; titled verso
Provenance: Hollander York Gallery, Toronto ON

Notes:

signed lower left; signed & titled on the stretcher verso

Notes:

signed lower left; titled & dated verso

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signed lower right; signed & titled on the stretcher verso
Provenance: Diana Paul Galleries, Calgary AB

Notes:

signed & dated lower right; titled on the stretcher verso

Provenance: Formerly from the collection of businessman and philanthropist Charles Bronfman (Claridge Collection), Montreal QC

Literature: “Maxwell Bates in Retrospect 1921-1971” (Vancouver Art Gallery; 1973); “Maxwell Bates: A Canadian Expressionist” (Art Gallery of Alberta; 2004); “Maxwell Bates: Canada’s Premier Expressionist of the 20th Century: His Art, Life and Prisoner of War Notebook” (Nancy Townsend; Nancy Townshend and Snyder Hedlin Fine Arts; 2005).

Max Bates was the first influential and internationally recognized artist to have been born in Calgary (and likely Alberta). This early artistic pioneer and iconoclast, once banned from exhibiting in Calgary, is now considered one of Canada’s most important expressionist painters. In June of 1930, Bates left the inhospitable local art scene (then very traditionalist) for London, England, travelling by cattle train and boat. He arrived in 1931, staying for ten years. During this time, he is said to have taken in some two thousand art exhibitions, and he exhibited regularly. Bates became a member of the Twenties Group (1932-1939), an association of prominent Expressionists and Surrealists. In an important 1937 exhibition, Bates’ work was exhibited alongside artistic innovators such as Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky.

At the outset of WWII, Bates joined the British Territorial Army and, ultimately, spent the next five years as a prisoner of war. Bates returned to Calgary following the war, in January 1946, and joined his father’s architectural firm, where he had earlier apprenticed, though he never abandoned his art. In 1949, he studied with expressionist Max Beckmann at the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York.

Max Bates came to be highly regarded and influential within the artistic community. He is well known for his expressive figure studies, which are characterized by bold colour, and distortions of plane and form. Since 1960, Max Bates has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, including: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (Regina); the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Winnipeg Art Gallery; Vancouver Art Gallery; and Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton). He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary in 1971, and was awarded the Order of Canada in 1980. His work is found in numerous public collections including: National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); Glenbow Museum (Calgary); Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto); and Tate Gallery (London).

Notes:

Reference: “Spirit Matters – Ron (Gyo-Zo) Spickett, Artist, Poet, Lay-Priest” (Geoffrey Simmons; University of Calgary Press, 2009).

Note: This work was acquired directly from Spickett by the consignor, a friend and former housemate of the artist.

Notes:

signed, titled & dated verso