- 7
Harold Barling Town 1924 - 1990
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 CAD
bidding is closed
Description
- Harold Barling Town
- Picture for Heather #1
- signed and dated '60 on the reverse
- oil and Lucite 44 on board
- 160 by 122 cm.
- 63 by 48 in.
Provenance
Dresdnere Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario
Private Collection, Ontario
Exhibited
VI Biennial of the Museum of Modern Art of Sao Paulo, September - December, 1961
Catalogue Note
In 1958, Town’s daughter Heather was born, and a series of paintings emerged from his studio soon afterwards. The most impressive of these was this Picture for Heather #1, which was selected as one of Town’s works when he represented Canada at the 6th Biennial in Sao Paulo in 1961.
The painting has all the verve, energy, and control that one could possibly want. The three main colours (red, blue and black) are deployed with amazing assurance in a composition that is at once solidly rooted to its base, but at the same time has a light, airy quality that makes it seem to float.
Town’s forté was in the drawing, the ability to create unusual shapes and contours, to keep the overall diamond structure simple, and to deal with the corners in a way that is, as they nearly always are in his work, both a solution and an animating element.
The painting is also an intimate one, inspired by a powerful personal experience and emotion. It comes at a time in Town’s career when he had full mastery of his abilities, having won a number of international prizes and been touted as Canada’s foremost artist.
The painting has all the verve, energy, and control that one could possibly want. The three main colours (red, blue and black) are deployed with amazing assurance in a composition that is at once solidly rooted to its base, but at the same time has a light, airy quality that makes it seem to float.
Town’s forté was in the drawing, the ability to create unusual shapes and contours, to keep the overall diamond structure simple, and to deal with the corners in a way that is, as they nearly always are in his work, both a solution and an animating element.
The painting is also an intimate one, inspired by a powerful personal experience and emotion. It comes at a time in Town’s career when he had full mastery of his abilities, having won a number of international prizes and been touted as Canada’s foremost artist.