2020 June | Hodgins Art Auctions

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signed lower right; titled on the gallery labels verso

Provenance: G. Blair Laing Ltd., Toronto ON; Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal QC; Peter Ohler Fine Arts, Vancouver BC

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signed & titled lower left

Note: One Gun [1884-1973] was an honoured member of the Siksika tribe, serving for many years on the band council, as well as in several secret societies. He was a regular participant in the Calgary Stampede, since its inception in 1912.

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signed & editioned in the cast; titled & dated on the gallery label
Provenance: Canada House Gallery, Banff AB

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signed

Provenance: Formerly from the estate Ralph and Marion Hersh (Tucson, Arizona) and by descent to the current consignor.

Note: A major retrospective of Katie Ohe’s work is currently running at the Esker Foundation in Calgary (January 25-September 6, 2020).

Notes:

signed & dated verso; titled on the artist’s and gallery labels verso

Provenance: Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto ON; Masters Gallery, Calgary AB

Note: This work is illustrated on page 177 of “Harold Town” (Iris Nowell; Figure 1 Publishing; 2014).

Harold Town was a founding member of the Abstract Expressionist group Painters Eleven, a term coined by Town for the group’s first show at Roberts Gallery in 1954. Town went on to explore a variety of media and styles during his accomplished career. In “Harold Town, Life and Work” (Art Canada Institute; 2014) author Gerta Moray likens the re-introduction in 1980 of figurative imagery to Town’s paintings, to a rejection of modern abstraction, “a move that had parallels to the ‘return to painting’ that burst upon the international art scene between 1978 and 1981.” Of this series, she says “Town continued this absurdist figurative vein in another late painting series, the Musclemen (1981–84), which reflected ironically on the masculine ideal in popular culture.”

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signed & dated on the upper panel; signed, titled & dated verso

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signed, dated & editioned in the cast
Provenance: Estate of Bill and Peggy Code, Calgary AB

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initialed lower right
Provenance: Masters Gallery, Calgary AB; Former Collection of Marjorie Lismer (daughter of the artist), and by descent through the family

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monogrammed lower left; signed, titled & dated on the stretcher verso

Provenance: Estate of Bill and Peggy Code, Calgary AB

Reference: “Illingworth Kerr: Fifty Years a Painter” (Alberta College of Art; 1973).

Kerr, who was born and raised in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, received his first encouragement and instruction in the arts from his mother, a watercolour artist. As a budding artist, he won numerous first prize awards at his first show (in 1919) at the Regina Exhibition. In 1923, Kerr headed to Toronto to obtain a formal art education at the Ontario College of Art, where his instructors included Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, Frederick Varley, and William Beatty. While the Group of Seven’s approach was not expressly taught at OCA, Kerr was exposed to the ideals of the Group through his attendance at various exhibitions and studios. Kerr returned to his prairie home, embracing the ideal of creating a uniquely Canadian expression of landscape, and his focus over his decades long career remained on the Prairies – namely Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In 1947 Kerr moved to Calgary to head the Art Department of the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now Alberta University of the Arts and SAIT). Under his 20-year tenure, Kerr lay the foundation for art instruction in Alberta and had far-reaching influence as an instructor and mentor. Kerr was only able to fully dedicate himself to his art following his retirement from the Institute. During these years he often painted in the the foothills and natural areas outside Calgary. The proximity to the mountains, foothills and prairie gave him ample opportunity to continuing exploring the “answer to Western space with its vast scale, its power of mood rather than tangible forms”.

In 1973, Kerr was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary. In 1975, a retrospective of his work was held at the gallery of the Alberta College of Art (later renamed the Illingworth Kerr Gallery). This exhibition subsequently toured to Regina and Saskatoon. In 1983, he was named to the Order of Canada. In 1985, a major retrospective of Kerr’s work “Harvest of the Spirit” debuted at the Edmonton Art Gallery before continuing on to nine Canadian cities. Kerr remains unmatched in his contributions to the modern expression of the prairie and foothills landscape.

Notes:

signed lower right; signed, titled & dated on the artist’s label verso