Lot 60
  • 60

Jean Albert McEwen 1923 - 1999

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 CAD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Jean Albert McEwen
  • Three Stripes
  • signed and dated '65 lower right; signed, indistinctly titled, dated and inscribed Mais que pour marcher droit Tu chausses, Muse, un cothurne étroit, Gauthier on the reverse
  • acrylic oil on canvas
  • 132 by 117 cm.
  • 52 by 46 in.

Provenance

Private Collection, Toronto

Literature

Constance Naubert-Riser, Jean McEwen: Colour in Depth, Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal, 1987, p. 47.  

Catalogue Note

Three Stripes from 1965 represents a unique and experimental moment in McEwen's oeuvre, a progressive period during which he challenged himself creatively by integrating acrylic paint into his practice, an experiment that worked to very successful effect.

As Constance Norbert-Riser notes, the inherently matte acrylic paint used through the centre of the composition "introduces a tension-producing variable that increases the vibration of the surface and accentuates the iridescent effects" of the contrasting, layered side stripes. 

The inscription on the reverse is from a poem by Théophile Gauthier (1811-1872) entitled "L'Art" from Emaux et Camées (1852).