Paul-Emile Borduas Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Paul-Emile Borduas Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 21, 2024
Painting, Attributed to Paul-Emile Borduas
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Attributed to Paul-Emile Borduas (Canadian, 1905-1960), "Abstraction," 1957, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right and signed verso, gallery label (Dominion Gallery, Montreal, Quebec), affixed verso, canvas: 29"h x 23.75"w, overall (with frame): 38.5"h x 33"w
Clars Auctions
Dec. 12, 2023
Borduas, Paul-Émile - Paysage - c. 1935
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
Borduas, Paul-Émile (1905-1960) Paysage (c. 1935) Description: Oil on board, inscribed on back by Mme Borduas, COA Galerie d'arts contemporain Dimension (PO): 6 1/2" x 9" Dimension (CM): 16.5 x 22.9 cm Condition report: Upon request, We will gladly answer all your inquiries in a detailed manner.
Champagne Auctions
Mar. 15, 2022
Borduas, Paul-Émile - Abstraction - 1945
Est: $200 - $300
Borduas, Paul-Émile (1905-1960) Abstraction (1945) Description (FR): Lithographie sur papier, signée et datée dans la plaque Borduas 45 Description (EN): Litograph on paper, signed and dated in the plate Borduas 45 Dimension (PO): 10 1/2" x 13 1/2" Dimension (CM): 26.7 x 34.3 cm Rapport de condition: Sur demande, nous nous ferons un plaisir de répondre à vos questions de manière détaillée. Condition report: Upon request, We will gladly answer all your inquiries in a detailed manner.
Champagne Auctions
Jun. 30, 2021
Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960) - Transparence
Est: €280,000 - €350,000
Paul-Émile Borduas (1905-1960) Transparence huile sur toile 89 x 116 cm.
Christie's
May. 15, 2021
PAUL-EMILE BORDUAS (FRENCH-CANADIAN, 1905-1960)
Est: $70,000 - $90,000
PAUL-EMILE BORDUAS (FRENCH-CANADIAN, 1905-1960) Cry of the Little Frogs Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1953. Heavy impasto abstract palette knife composition. Extant Passedoit Gallery label to verso with handwritten notation. Stamp to canvas reading "Artist Materials C.R. Crowley 1387 St. Catherine St. W. Montreal 25, Que." Provenance: The Artist Passedoit Gallery 1954 N. McCullough Winters, Quincy, IL John M. Winters, Quincy, IL by descent (his father) 1975 Susan W. Caine, St. Louis, MO by descent (her uncle) 2011 Private Collection, by descent 2020 Bibliography: 3 Canadian Painters, Including Roloff Beny Of Lethbridge, Have One-Man Shows in NY ", The Herald (Lethbridge, Alberta), January 6, 1954. GAGNON, Guy," New-York welcomes Borduas, the painter from St-Hilaire ", Le Clairon (St-Hyacinthe), January 8, 1954, p.8. GAGNON, François-Marc, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960). Critical biography and analysis of the work, Fides, Montreal, 1978, p. 323, 490, 530. GAGNON, François-Marc, Paul-Émile Borduas A Critical Biography, McGill-Queen's University, Montreal & Kingston, 2013, p. 304. Observation: "List of paintings from Provincetown, 1953", No. 24, T. 239. Exhibitions: Passedoit Gallery, New York 1954, solo exhibition "Paul-Émile Borduas", January 5-23, no. 18 on the list. Literature: "Borduas won his case against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was finally able to move to the United States, initially to Provincetown, Mass., where he spent the summer of 1953 painting at the seaside. He may have met Hans Hofmann at this time, since the German painter gave summer courses in this Cape Cod town, where there was an artists’ colony. In the fall Borduas settled in New York, and he remained there until September 1955. With the support of several Quebec collectors (notably Gérard Lortie) and two New York galleries (the Passedoit Gallery and the Martha Jackson Gallery), he was able to rent a large studio in Greenwich Village. This period was extremely important for the development of his art and career. The title he gave to a canvas painted in 1953, Les signes s’envolent, seems to convey what was going on in his painting, as objects disintegrate (thus “signs” disappear) and the background moves closer to the surface of the painting. From then on, Borduas used only a palette-knife to apply the paint, a technique that gave greater materiality to his work. His first New York exhibition was held at the Passedoit Gallery from 5 to 23 Jan. 1954, and attracted favourable notices. On 6 February Rodolphe de Repentigny, a critic who had come to New York for the occasion, reported in the Montreal paper L’Autorité du peuple that the American painter Robert Motherwell, who was present at the vernissage, had exclaimed: “He’s the Courbet of the 20th century!” However, the Passedoit, which, prior to Borduas, had never exhibited non-figurative painting, was not a very prestigious gallery. Fortunately, his work would be taken up by the Martha Jackson Gallery in exhibitions organized after he had left North America (18 March–6 April 1957 and 24 March–18 April 1959). While in New York, Borduas had realized that, although he could claim to have been inspired by Surrealism, especially its concept of an art originating in the unconscious, the abstract expressionism practiced by Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, or Mark Rothko – artists whom he could meet at the Cedar Bar – was going much further in this direction than the automatism of the Montreal group in the period when he was their leader." Credit: François-Marc Gagnon, “BORDUAS, PAUL-ÉMILE (baptized Paul-Émile-Charles),” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 18, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed April 15, 2021, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/borduas_paul_emile_18E.html. 16" height, 19.5" width; frame: 23" height, 26.5" width
Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers
Sep. 24, 2019
BORDUAS, PAUL ÉMILE - CORPS D'HOMME -
Est: $400 - $600
Borduas, Paul Émile (1905-1960) Corps d'homme () Fusain sur papier, signée en bas à gauche P E Borduas Charcoal on paper, signed on lower left P E Borduas 24" x 18" - 60.96 x 45.72 cm Papier légèrement endommagé en bas à droite
Champagne Auctions
Nov. 07, 2018
Paul Emile Borduas Canadian, 1905-1960 Untitled, 1956
Est: $100,000 - $150,000
Paul Emile Borduas Canadian, 1905-1960 Untitled, 1956 Signed Borduas and dated 56 (lr) Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches (60.96 x 50.8 cm) C
DOYLE Auctioneers & Appraisers
Sep. 13, 2018
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A., PASSAGE DE KNOWLTON, oil on panel, 5.5 ins x 8.75 ins; 47 cms x 71.1 cms
Est: $3,000 - $4,000
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A.PASSAGE DE KNOWLTONoil on panel 5.5 ins x 8.75 ins; 47 cms x 71.1 cms Provenance:Private Collection, MontrealEstimate: $3,000–4,000
Waddington's
Apr. 11, 2018
Borduas, Paul Émile (1905-1960) Homme assis au baton
Est: $800 - $1,200
fusain sur papier, signé en bas à droite P E Borduas Charcoal on paper, signed on lower right P E Borduas 24 1/2" x 18"; 62.23 x 45.72 cm
Champagne Auctions
Jan. 14, 2018
Paul-Émile Borduas Abstract Oil/ Canvas1959
Est: $5,000 - $10,000
Paul-Émile Borduas (French Canadian,1905-1960) Oil painting on canvas, titled en verso, "Taches Beiges et Noires" ("Beige and Black Spots"). Signed and dated, lower left, "Borduas, '59". Excellent condition. Measures 24" x 18".
Neely Auction
Nov. 08, 2016
BORDUAS (attribué à) Paul Emile 1905-1960
Est: €1,000 - €1,500
BORDUAS (attribué à) Paul Emile 1905-1960 Composition abstraite 1954 Aquarelle sur papier signée et datée en bas à droite 42 x 54 cm
The Bru Sale Gallery
Oct. 28, 2016
Paul-Emile Becat (1885-1960) Nude Ltd Ed
Est: $400 - $800
Artist: Paul-Emile Becat (1885-1960); Title: Untitled; Medium: Lithograph on paper; Year or Era Produced: 20th Century; Signature: Pencil signed in lower right; Edition Number: 14/19; Sight Area Approximate Measurement: 7.5" x 5.875"; Frame Approximate Measurement: 18.25" x 15.5" x 0.75"; Approximate Weight: 2.75 lbs; Frame: Framed and matted beneath glass
J Levine Auction & Appraisal LLC
Jan. 19, 2016
Attributed to Paul-Emile Borduas (Canadian 1905-1960). Titled Verso "Taches beiges et noires, Paris 59. Oil Impasto on canvas 24" x 18". Signed lower left & dated 59. Acquired at a Palm Beach Estate Sale in 1982
Est: $15,000 - $25,000
Attributed to Paul-Emile Borduas (Canadian 1905-1960). Titled Verso "Taches beiges et noires, Paris 59. Oil Impasto on canvas 24" x 18". Signed lower left & dated 59. Acquired at a Palm Beach Estate Sale in 1982
Bill Hood & Sons Arts & Antiques Auctions
Dec. 02, 2015
Untitled
Est: -
Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960) 1954 Gouache and watercolour on paper Signed and dated 54 lower right 33 cm x 40.6 cm / 13" x 16"
Cosner Gallery
Dec. 02, 2015
L arbre de vie
Est: -
Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960) Oil on paper Signed upper right Titled on the back 15.9 cm x 10.8 cm / 6 1/4" x 4 1/4"
Cosner Gallery
May. 25, 2015
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A., GROUPEMENT TRIANGULAIRE (1954), watercolour, 17.75 ins x 23.5 ins; 45.1 cms x 59.7 cms
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A. GROUPEMENT TRIANGULAIRE (1954) watercoloursigned and dated '54; titled on the reverse 17.75 ins x 23.5 ins; 45.1 cms x 59.7 cms Provenance:Galerie Dresdnere, MontrealPrivate Collection, TorontoLiterature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas: biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, Fides, Montreal, 1978, pages 355, 356 and 406.Note:Realized a year after the beginning of his exile in the United States, Groupement Triangulaire is a prime example of the impact of American painting on Borduas' work. While in New York, feeling the need to experiment, Borduas decided to focus on watercolour. For Borduas specialist François-Marc Gagnon, "Groupement triangulaire évoque une sorte de paysage abstrait. Les plans s'y succèdent dans l'espace et le «groupement triangulaire» que le peintre a voulu y voir s'impose beaucoup moins à l'oeil que cette impression de récession en profondeur. Aussi bien c'est une aquarelle qui se rattache aux compositions à l'huile de la période. Le registre ocre pâle et brun de celles-ci a été remplacé par un vert transparent et des noirs, signifiant le passage de l'hiver au printemps." In the summer of 1955, Max Stern visited Borduas' studio in Paris and acquired thirteen works, including this lot.
Waddington's
Mar. 05, 2015
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A., LES PARACHUTES EN FLEUR, ink, 11 ins x 8.5 ins; 27.9 cms x 21.6 cms
Est: -
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A.LES PARACHUTES EN FLEURsigned and dated '51, 11 ins x 8.5 ins; 27.9 cms x 21.6 cmsProvenance:Private Collection, TorontoEstimate: $6,000-8,000
Waddington's
May. 15, 2013
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $100,000 - $150,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Sans titre 28 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches 73 x 59.7 centimeters on verso inscribed ""Antagonismes 29/1/60"" Literature:Barbara Rose, Readings in American Art since 1900: A Documentary Survey, 1968, page 155 Provenance:Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal A Prominent Montreal Family Estate Sans titre shows a remarkable control of the gesture. One of the small drawings from 1959 done on Gitanes cigarette packages (see catalogue raisonné #2005-1397) seems to be the preparatory sketch for this painting, and is also quite close to Composition no. 27, 1959 (see catalogue raisonné #2005-1378) but more free-handed. It belongs to a series of well-known calligraphic paintings that play on the cross motif, as in Composition 44, 1959, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Abstraction in Blue, 1959, at The Art Gallery of Ontario. Here, the pictorial space is crossed by three movements from top to bottom and bottom to top. It is, of course, a work like this one that has given the idea of a rapprochement with Franz Kline's painting. But as much as this Borduas painting is more calligraphic - almost Japanese in its inspiration - it must be distinguished from Kline, who rejected the idea of his own painting being calligraphic. "You don't make the letter 'C'," wrote Kline, "and then fill the white in the circle. When people describe forms of painting in the calligraphic sense they really mean...the design of black against a form of white." Borduas would not have had any qualms in describing his paintings as calligraphic, especially since he was dreaming of visiting Japan after his stay in Paris. Now what about the story of this painting? It was presented to us as being titled and dated on the back as Antagonismes, 29/1/1960. In fact, that is inscribed on the stretcher, but the writing is not Borduas's. We believe that Antagonismes is not the title of the painting, but the name of the exhibition where it was presented in February 1960, the month of Borduas's death in Paris. ntagonismes took place at the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris and a catalogue was published. A Borduas painting is reproduced in this catalogue, but it is not our painting. It is rather a painting that belonged to Robert Élie, a close friend of Borduas, and which is now in the hands of a Montreal collector. It is quite possible that Borduas changed his mind at the last minute (January 29, 1960 was the eve of the opening of the show) and decided to exhibit this more recent and more vibrant painting than the one belonging to Élie. But then the catalogue was already printed and there was no way to reproduce the actual painting presented by Borduas - our Sans titre, 1959. I admit this is all a little speculative but it is not the only example known of a painting reproduced in a catalogue that was replaced at the last minute by a better and more significant one. It remains that this is a remarkable painting, a rare event when we think that very few black and white paintings of the Parisian period have been seen recently on the market, and none dated so late, so close to Borduas's death. The work of Borduas shows a constant progress from his early Automatist paintings to these last black and white paintings. Borduas always felt the need to renew himself. In Paris, he was attracted by the more advanced ideas, like Lucio Fontana's slashed paintings or Yves Klein's monochrome painting and monochord music performances. Borduas kept his own style, but remained open to what was happening in the art world around him, both in New York and in Paris. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
Nov. 29, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian ink and
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian ink and watercolour on paper L'Idole aux signes 10 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches 27.6 x 21.6 centimeters signed and dated 1950 and on verso titled and inscribed ""Saint-Hilaire, Qué., 35$"" on a label Literature:Borduas Online Catalogue Raisonné: http://www.borduascatalog.org/ Provenance:Private Collection, Montreal Exhibited:Picture Loan Society, Toronto, Colour Ink Paintings by Paul-Émile Borduas, October 13 - 26, 1951 Foyer de l'art et du livre, Ottawa, Exhibit of Paintings and Inks, October 10 - 20, 1952, catalogue #5
Heffel
May. 17, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian book Refus
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian book Refus global 8 5/8 x 7 1/4 inches 21.9 x 18.4 centimeters editioned 356/400 Literature:Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007, page 83 Provenance:A gift from the Artist to his wife's parents By descent to the present Private Collection, Quebec Refus global was a historic document by Montreal-based Automatist artists that was aesthetically, socially and politically revolutionary. After its publication on August 9, 1948, it was considered so provocative - being, as Roald Nasgaard wrote, "a passionate attack on all the repressive social, political, historical and religious forces that had shaped the Quebecois people" - that its instigator, Paul-Émile Borduas, was fired from his teaching position at the École du meuble in Montreal. The fifteen other signatories were: Magdeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gauvreau, Pierre Gauvreau, Muriel Guilbault, Marcelle Ferron, Fernand Leduc, Thérèse Leduc, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Maurice Perron, Louise Renaud, Françoise Riopelle, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Françoise Sullivan. In addition to the main manifesto and two other texts on language and Surrealism by Borduas, this book contains three short dramatic pieces by Claude Gauvreau, Françoise Sullivan's essay on dance, Bruno Cormier's piece on pictorial art, a poetic declaration by Fernand Leduc and photographs by Maurice Perron of works of art, actors and dancers. The text was mimeographed in the Gauvreau apartment, with cover art by Jean-Paul Riopelle and Claude Gauvreau.
Heffel
May. 17, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $150,000 - $200,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Jeunesse 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1956 Literature:Robert Ayre, ""McGill and Université de Montreal Students Sponsor Brilliant Show of Contemporary Art"", The Montreal Star, January 19, 1957, page 24 François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, listed pages 407, 408 and 496 François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1988, La grimpée (The Climb) reproduced page 378 This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné on the artist's work at www.borduas.concordia.ca/en/about/index.php Provenance:Gisèle and Gérard Lortie, Montreal, July 1956 Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal An Important Private Estate, Montreal Exhibited:Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, 35 peintres dans l'actualité, organised by the students of the University of Montreal and McGill University, January 19 - February 3, 1957 The provenance of this painting is worth noting. Jeunesse was acquired in July 1956 at Paul-Émile Borduas's Paris studio on rue Rousselet by his dear friends and supporters Gisèle and Gérard Lortie. Gérard was an industrialist in the leather business and Gisèle was the daughter of Victor Morin, a well-known notary and historian. Both had a remarkable eye for Borduas paintings and, generally speaking, for the art of their day. I recall that in their living room they had two big Claude Tousignant paintings - Accélérateur chromatique works - in bright, fluorescent colours. To give one more example of their discerning eye, I should mention that in the next year Lortie would acquire L'étoile noire, 1957, considered to be one of Borduas's masterpieces, now in the collection of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Jeunesse was one of the six paintings acquired in July 1956, along with La grimpée, 1956, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, and 3+3+4, 1956, now in the collection of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. When I published my book on Borduas in 1978, I did not know the whereabouts of Jeunesse. The only thing I knew about it then was that it was exhibited in a show organized at the beginning of 1957 by the students of the Université de Montréal and of McGill University (future collectors?) held at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, along with La grimpée. Now that we have the painting, we know that in between the current collector and the Lorties, the painting was at the Galerie Agnès Lefort - we see her stamp on the back of the canvas - a gallery with which the Lorties were well acquainted. What was remarkable about the Lorties' deal with Borduas on this occasion was that they acquired paintings from both the white works of Borduas's first months in Paris, like Jeunesse, that prolonged his New York style, and from the first black and white paintings (like Ramage and 3+3+4) typical of his Paris period, along with La grimpée, which could be seen as a painting that made the transition between both styles. Borduas was then quickly moving towards what would be his landmark style in Paris - his famous black and white paintings. In Jeunesse we are not yet there, but with all these apertures in the white that show some dark recesses and the slashes of the spatula with areas highlighted in green and ochre, we can say that the next step was not far away. La grimpée went in the same direction, a little further maybe, showing more contrast between the black and the red. In Jeunesse, the suggestion of movement through the handling of paint is quite noticeable. The Montreal critic Robert Ayre was very conscious of this, and in his review of the 1957 exhibition at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts wrote, "The life is in the manipulation of white paint." It was also in the speed of improvisation - here a risky stroke, there a well thought out encounter between two movements. The painting is full of life; perhaps that is the reason why Borduas titled it Jeunesse (Youth). Or was it because of the springtime spots of green that we see here and there? But at the same time, one feels the control, the mastery of Borduas at this stage of his career. Here, everything is balanced and harmonious. Not a speck of paint could be moved somewhere else without destroying the effect, and not a colour is out of place - a very satisfying painting indeed. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
May. 17, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian gouache on
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian gouache on paper Poisson volant 16 3/4 x 22 7/8 inches 42.5 x 58.1 centimeters signed and dated 1942 Literature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, translated from the French, pages 123 and 130 This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné on the artist's work at www.borduas.concordia.ca/en/about/index.php Provenance:A gift from the Artist to his wife's parents By descent to the present Private Collection, Quebec This Paul-Émile Borduas gouache belongs to a series done in 1942 and exhibited at the Ermitage (nothing to do with the Hermitage in Russia, unfortunately), a gymnasium and concert hall at the Collège de Montréal. Many of these gouaches are known only by a number, some by a number and a title, but rarely - like this one - only by a title. The reason is that it was given by Borduas to his in-laws. My student, François Laurin, then in the Art History Department at the Université de Montréal, was told by someone in the family in 1973 that they were not 100 percent sure of the title, but that it was known to them as "le poisson volant". And indeed, one could read it as a kind of "flying fish", detaching itself from a grey background. The red shape in the bottom right corner could be its tail, and the white spot in the upper left corner, possibly its eye. We could see it then as jumping out of the water along the diagonal of the page. This discussion of the title of the work should not create the impression, however, that this gouache was done with the intention of painting a fish. It would be a complete misunderstanding of the way this painting, and the others exhibited at the same time in 1942, were done. Borduas, as a matter of fact, had clearly explained how he proceeded in a conversation with the art critic Maurice Gagnon in May of 1942. "I have no preconceived idea," he declared. "In front of a sheet of white paper, with a mind void of all literary ideas, I obey the first impulse. If I have the idea of using my charcoal in the middle of the page or on one side, I do it without hesitation and go on like this. A first line is drawn in that manner, and this line divides the sheet of paper. This division of the page triggers a whole set of thoughts, always executed automatically..... Having finished with the drawing I follow the same method with the colour. If my first idea is to use a green, or a red - I don't discuss it." The main idea is that if any subject matter could be read here, it is in the finished work and never conceived beforehand as an intention, or a program defined in advance. Borduas wanted to give all the power to the unconscious and let the order come from within, instead of being imposed from the outside. This idea came, of course, from the practice of "écriture automatique", defended by the poet André Breton and the Surrealists. In their poems, the Surrealist writers would begin without any preconceived ideas and follow the dictate of their unconscious. They also shared, in the beginning, the idea that every man carried inside of himself a treasure of poetry and that the only thing that was needed to bring it to light was to convince him to write without preconceived ideas. But obviously, as Borduas's Poisson volant demonstrates, not everybody has the same wealth of images, forms and colours in his unconscious! This beautiful gouache should be enjoyed both for its formal qualities and for the suggestion of freedom implicit in the title. After all, a flying fish is not such a common occurrence. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
May. 17, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $30,000 - $40,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas La nuit se précise 7 3/4 x 12 inches 19.7 x 30.5 centimeters signed and dated 1952 and on verso signed and titled Literature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 313, 315, 348, 350 and 488 This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné on the artist's work at www.borduas.concordia.ca/en/about/index.php Provenance:Acquired from the Artist by Gérard Lortie, Montreal Fred S. Mendel, Saskatchewan A gift from the above to Miriam Shields, Saskatchewan By descent to the present Private Collection, Calgary Exhibited:Saint-Hilaire Studio, Dernière exposition.....des derniers tableaux, April 26 - 27, 1952, catalogue #10 Foyer de l'art et du livre, 445 Sussex St., Ottawa, Exposition de tableaux et d'encres, October 10 - 20, 1952, catalogue #9 There is no doubt that La nuit se précise (Night Takes Shape) from 1952 is a little gem in Paul-Émile Borduas's works. But it is also an important discovery. It appears on a list of 18 oil paintings shown in his studio at Saint-Hilaire in 1952 for only two days, April 26 and 27, in an exhibition titled Dernière exposition.....des derniers tableaux.....à la maison de Saint-Hilaire (Last exhibition.....of the most recent paintings.....in the Saint-Hilaire house). The circumstances in which this exhibition took place were both tragic and mysterious. When it was held, it reflected Borduas's recent return to painting after a long period of inactivity during the winter of 1951 - 1952. His family had left him the previous year; when he came back on October 19 from a short trip to Toronto where his works had been presented at The Picture Loan Society, he found the house empty. Mrs. Borduas, probably exhausted by his insistence on being the only breadwinner of the family and to live exclusively from his painting, had left him, taking their children with her. She was a nurse and had decided to go back to work. The title of th exhibition had an ominous element, especially in French, where the word "dernier" is repeated twice. As a matter of fact, Borduas sold la maison de Saint-Hilaire soon after, and went to live with his brother Adrien, before leaving Canada for the United States. This is not all. When trying to reconstruct the content of this exhibition in the 1970s, which was known only from a list of works, I could not find a single one of the 18 paintings exhibited, and have not had any luck in locating the actual paintings since then! It is as if the whole exhibition had disappeared by magic. Even though some - six or seven - of the same titles reappear at the Foyer de l'art et du livre show in Ottawa, October 10 - 20, 1952, and La nuit se précise appeared on a list of paintings belonging to Gérard Lortie, I could not locate them. I imagine some of them could have been exhibited at the Rose Fried Gallery in New York, since Borduas mentions in a letter to his daughter Janine, dated May 2, 1953 from Provincetown, "un ce tain nombre de mes peintures sont déjà en vente à la galerie Rose Fried" (a certain number of my paintings are already on sale at the Rose Fried Gallery). Regarding the whereabouts of our painting, it was acquired by Fred S. Mendel, a well-known Saskatchewan-based art collector and industrialist, who was a major financial contributor to the museum in Saskatoon that bears his name, the Mendel Art Gallery. Mendel then gave it to his friend Miriam Shields, from whom it passed by descent through her family into a private Calgary collection. There is one sign of the whereabouts of the painting, which is at the same time an interesting suggestion of its presentation, on the back of the painting. One can read there the English word "TOP" on the section of the stretcher that corresponds to the side of the painting. If one follows that suggestion, the picture still makes sense, even if it was not the intention of Borduas, who had signed it at the bottom on the right. Lortie, for instance could have written "HAUT" rather than "TOP" if he had wanted to do so. The importance of this painting is that it is the missing link between the last Automatist paintings and the New York production of Borduas. It shows a will to fragment the "objects" of his previous paintings into palette knife strokes, creating an effect similar to an analytical Cubist painting. Even the minimal range of colours (from black to white) points in the same direction. On the other hand, the tragic overtone of this small painting, where the black of the "night" mentioned in the title is witness to the difficult period in the life of Borduas that it belongs to, also gives it a moving lyrical dimension. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay. This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné on the artist's work at www.borduas.concordia.ca/en/about/index.php
Heffel
Mar. 29, 2012
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian limited edition book Le Refus Global
Est: $7,000 - $9,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian limited edition book Le Refus Global 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches 21.6 x 19 centimeters editioned 131/400 Provenance:A gift from Paul-Émile Borduas to the present Private Collection, Montreal Refus global was a revolutionary document, not only aesthetically but also socially and politically; after its publication, Borduas was fired from the teaching position he had held since 1937 at the École du meuble in Montreal. This book is a first edition copy of this historic artistic manifesto, launched in Montreal on August 9, 1948. In addition to the main text by Borduas, this document, mimeographed by a small local press, contains essays, two plays, drawings and photographs, all the contributions of its fifteen other signatories: Magdeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gauvreau, Pierre Gauvreau, Muriel Guilbault, Marcelle Ferron, Fernand Leduc, Thérèse Leduc, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Maurice Perron, Louise Renaud, Françoise Riopelle, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Françoise Sullivan. Please note that this work is accompanied by three books: the booklet Projections libérantes by Paul-Émile Borduas; the catalogue of the 1962 Borduas exhibit organized by the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Toronto as well as Le Refus Global vingt ans après by Adèle Lauzon.
Heffel
Nov. 28, 2011
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS1905 - 1960
Est: $175,000 - $225,000
BLANCS MÉTAUX signed and dated '55 lower left oil on canvas, mounted on board 51 by 61 cm. 20 by 24 in.
Sotheby's
Nov. 24, 2011
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian watercolour and ink on paper Aquarelle no. 4
Est: $12,000 - $16,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian watercolour and ink on paper Aquarelle no. 4 14 x 18 inches 35.6 x 45.7 centimeters Provenance:A gift from the Artist to a Private Collection, New York Private Collection, Toronto This bright watercolour was done in New York, where Paul-Émile Borduas lived from the fall of 1953 until 1955, after which time he moved to Paris where he remained until his death in 1960. Traveling to the United States during the McCarthy years was not easy for Borduas, as his writings and associations caused the American border authorities to suspect him of being a communist sympathizer. But once there, he found New York incredibly stimulating. He saw the work of the American Abstract Expressionists and he began to use a palette knife to apply paint, which freed him from the formalism of painting in a remarkable way. This led to an opening-up of space, which resulted in watercolour and ink-based works such as Aquarelle no. 4, which is concerned with light, space and colour alone. Ultimately, it is a true abstraction of the simplest type. There is no reference to a subject, other than to define the work by its media as given in the title. This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's catalogue raisonné on the artist's work online at www.borduas.concordia.ca/en/about/index.php
Heffel
Nov. 24, 2011
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Ronde d'automne
Est: $125,000 - $175,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Ronde d'automne 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1953 and on verso titled and dated on the Martha Jackson Gallery label Literature:Frank O'Hara, Art News, Volume 52, No. 9, January 1954 Rodolphe de Repentigny, L'Autorité du peuple, February 6, 1954, page 7 Paul-Émile Borduas: Paintings 1953 - 1956, Martha Jackson Gallery, 1957, unpaginated "Borduas parle.....", Liberté, January - February 1962, page 12 Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1962, listed, unpaginated François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 323, 327 and 490 Provenance:Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, inventory #1053 Passedoit Gallery, New York Gallery Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London Edgar and Dorothy Davidson, Montreal and then moving to Ottawa in 1972 Exhibited:Passedoit Gallery, New York, Paul-Émile Borduas, January 5 - 23, 1954, catalogue #2 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960, January 11 - February 11, 1962, traveling to the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Toronto, 1962, catalogue # 82 Gallery Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London Ronde d'automne appears as #15 on the "Liste des tableaux de Provincetown", 1953, written by Paul-Émile Borduas probably at the end of a fruitful stay in Provincetown. Borduas had left Canada for the United States on April 1, 1953, although, as he explained to art critic Jacques Folch-Ribas, who published his words after Borduas's death, "I didn't leave for New York right away. I left in springtime, in April. I had an old habit of going to the country, and it seemed to me completely absurd to settle in New York for the oncoming summer. So I went instead to Provincetown, which is a charming place." Indeed, Provincetown, on Cape Cod with sand dunes and the sea nearby, was beautifully situated. It was also known as an artists' colony. Hans Hofmann, for instance, had his Summer School there, and it is possible that Borduas might have encountered him. However, we do not know that for sure, although Borduas seems to have worked a lot in Provincetown. The list we just mentioned contains 35 titles of works. Of these, a group of 18 - among them our Ronde d'automne - were presented at the first Borduas exhibition in New York at the Gisèle Passedoit Gallery. It was also shown at the great Borduas retrospective held after his death at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, at the National Gallery of Canada and at The Art Gallery of Toronto in 1962. It is an interesting small painting, in which Borduas maintained a difference between the centre and the periphery. The centre is busier than the edges; the movement, sometimes quite syncopated, calms down before reaching the perimeter of the canvas. This was a prolongation of a system already in place in 1952 and indicated how ready Borduas was at that time to adopt the all-overness of American painting, of which he was not yet aware. The colour of the painting was probably responsible for its title - its pale green and brown, with a few black and white accents, could be seen as typical autumn colours. Borduas was a master of tonal colour. He did not like simple oppositions between primary or complementary colours, and it is not surprising that this enabled him to suggest atmospheric colours, as he did here. Also, the movement in the work, coming from two directions, could suggest the wind. e do not know how this specific painting was perceived at the time, although it ended up in an extremely fine collection. But we can say that this first showing of Borduas in New York was well received. His exhibition at the Passedoit Gallery, from January 5 to 23, 1954, was well attended. The famous critic and poet Frank O'Hara wrote that "his technique becomes completely abstract in style, similar to much New York work, with great dependence on palette knife and on equality of surface working as well as of tonal distribution." In other words, the door was open to Borduas in New York. And indeed, this New York period of his work would prove to be a favourite of collectors, especially in Toronto. Robert Motherwell, who was at the opening of the Passedoit exhibition, was supposed to have said of Borduas, "He is the Courbet of the XXth century!" If this is true - it was the Canadian critic Rodolphe de Repentigny who reported it in L'Autorité du peuple - Borduas could not have had a better assessment. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
Nov. 24, 2011
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Chinoiserie
Est: $150,000 - $200,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Chinoiserie 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 inches 59.7 x 73 centimeters signed and dated 1956 and on verso titled on the Roberts Gallery label and alternatively titled Birches, Winter on the Laing Galleries label Literature:Two Canadian Painters: Paul-Émile Borduas - Harold Town, Gallery Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., 1958, reproduced page 9 François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 401, 418, 449, 501 and 529 and reproduced figure 103 Norman Bryson, Vision and Painting, The Logic of the Gaze, 1983, page 89 Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Gallery Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., London, England, February 21, 1957 Laing Galleries, Toronto Roberts Gallery, Toronto An Important Private Estate, Toronto Exhibited:Gallery Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., London, England, Two Canadian Painters: Paul-Émile Borduas - Harold Town, October 7 - 25, 1958, catalogue #7 Chinoiserie was purchased in Paul-Émile Borduas's Paris studio on February 21, 1957 - along with three other pictures - by M. Cochrane, director of Gallery Arthur Tooth and Sons in London, England. This gallery would exhibit Borduas's work a few times, and our painting was exhibited from October 7 to 25, 1958, in a joint show with the Toronto artist Harold Town, under the title Two Canadian Painters: Paul-Émile Borduas - Harold Town. Alan Jarvis, then director of the National Gallery of Canada, wrote the preface of the catalogue published on that occasion. Blair Laing of Laing Galleries in Toronto bought it from Tooth and brought it back to Canada to sell it to a Canadian collector. Chinoiserie belongs to a series of paintings from 1956, such as Danses éphémères, Graphisme and Griffes malicieuses, in which Borduas seemed to want to keep something of the fluidity and graphic quality of the watercolours he had made two years earlier in the medium of oil, at a time in which he was under the influence of New York painting, especially that of Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline. In Chinoiserie, he sometimes used the painting knife on its edge, instead of using the blade flat on the canvas to get some linear effects. But sometimes the blade slipped and, instead of tracing a line, created subtle "passages", so to speak, like Paul Cézanne did, which described the melting of one colour into another one. The pictorial area seems open and lines surge from outside the painting's periphery, especially from the bottom of the canvas. The gentle touch, like skimming on the surface of the white paint, suggested the presence of Chinese landscape in Borduas's imagination - he had always been fascinated by Chinese painting. He had in his personal library Art of the Far East: Landscape, Flowers, Animals, which included "16 Plates in Colour from the Work of Old Chinese and Japanese Masters" and an introduction by Laurence Binyon. At the end of his life, Borduas wanted to travel to Japan, and was certainly attracted by the minimalism of Oriental art. Nevertheless, the word "chinoiserie" is slightly pejorative in French. It usually designates curios, trinkets or knick-knacks, not necessarily from China, but imitating Chinese style. Probably the choice of this title reflects the lack of pretension that Borduas wanted to convey when competing with the great art of China. Is there any sense in which Borduas's painting could be said to have some relationship with Chinese art? For one thing, traditional Chinese painting is figurative and not abstract. Is this the reason why the painting was titled Birches, Winter by Laing Galleries on their label on verso? But even in an abstract form, Chinoiserie has one important feature common with Chinese art. "Chinese painting," as Norman Bryson explains, "has always selected forms that permit a maximum of integrity and visibility of structure through brushwork," like foliage, bamboo, ridges of boulders, or mountain formations in the so-called "boned" style, or "forms whose lack of outline.....allows the brush to express to the full the liquidity and immediate flow of the ink," like mist, the theme of still or moving water or aerial distance, in the "boneless" style. Substitute painting knife for the brush, and oil medium for the ink, and in Borduas's Chinoiserie you will not be too far from what Bryson explained about Chinese painting. Abstract art, by groping for structure, putting form in question, giving more presence to the painterly gesture in the building of the image, was, maybe not always unconsciously, going back to the essence of Chinese painting. It is characteristic of Borduas that he could cross that road at the very moment when he was interested in "graphisme", that is to say in the graphic or linear quality of his art. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
May. 26, 2011
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960 LA VOLÉE 1954 signed and dated lower right Borduas 54; titled on a gallery label on the reverse 35.6 by 42.6 cm. 14 by 16 ¾ in.
Sotheby's
May. 17, 2011
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $200,000 - $300,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Au coeur de la banquise 23 x 30 1/8 inches 58.4 x 76.5 centimeters signed and dated 1955 and on verso titled and dated on the artist's label and inscribed ""1112"" on the stretcher Provenance:Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, inventory #1112 Acquired from the above on November 29, 1962 for $2,000 through Gallery Moos, Toronto by Edgar and Dorothy Davidson, Montreal and then moving to Ottawa in 1972 Exhibited:Martha Jackson Gallery, New York For full cataloguing, text and images in PDF format please click here
Heffel
May. 17, 2011
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $250,000 - $350,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Chant d'été 42 x 36 inches 106.7 x 91.4 centimeters signed and dated 1955 and on verso titled and dated on the artist's label and inscribed ""P5"" and ""Gérard Bealieu [sic], 3157 Lacombe Aven., Montreal 26"" Literature:Gilberte Martin-Méry, L'Art au Canada, Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux, 1962, reproduced François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 384 and 385 Anna Moszynska, Abstract Art, London, 1990 Maurice Perron, Photographs, 1998, a photograph of the artist reproduced page 216 Provenance:Gilles Corbeil, Montreal Gérard Beaulieu, Montreal Galerie Camille Hébert, Montreal Acquired on April 10, 1963 for $5,000 by Edgar and Dorothy Davidson, Montreal and then moving to Ottawa in 1972 Exhibited:Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux, L'Art au Canada, May 11 - July 31, 1962, catalogue #34 Galerie Camille Hébert, Montreal For full cataloguing, text and images in PDF format please click here
Heffel
Nov. 23, 2010
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960
Est: $150,000 - $250,000
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960 MODULATIONS AUX POINTS NOIRS signed lower left Borduas oil on canvas 61.0 by 50.8 cm. 24 by 20 in.
Sotheby's
Nov. 23, 2010
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960 L'ANGLE À LA BLANCHE FAMILLE signed and dated in pencil lower right Borduas '54; titled and dated on two labels on the reverse watercolour on paper 27.9 by 21.6 cm. 11 by 8 ½ in.
Sotheby's
Nov. 22, 2010
PAUL EMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A.ETUDES DES POSES
Est: $2,500 - $3,000
PAUL EMILE BORDUAS, R.C.A.ETUDES DES POSES, graphite, signed and dated 1925, with circular auction house "Borduas" stamp18 1/2 ins x 24 ins; 46.3 cms x 60 cms
Waddington's
May. 31, 2010
Paul-Emile Borduas
Est: $4,500 - $6,500
Canadian RCA [1905-1960] ABSTRACT, SANS TITRE; 1954 ink & watercolour on paper 15 x 10.5 in. (38.1 x 26.7 cm) signed & dated
Hodgins Art Auctions Ltd.
May. 26, 2010
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas La danseuse jaune et la bête 18 1/2 x 22 inches 47 x 55.9 centimeters signed and dated 1943 and on verso titled on the Dominion Gallery label Literature:Robert Élie, Borduas, 1943, reproduced page 14 Claude Jasmin, ""Du lyrisme incandescent à la tragédie classique"", La Presse, Arts and Letters, January 20, 1962, page 5, titled as Danseuse jaune Guy Robert, Borduas, 1972, cited and reproduced pages 107 and 325 Guy Robert, Borduas ou le dilemme culturel québécois, 1977, reproduced page 163 François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 148, 152, no. 49, 155, 203, 215, 475, 479 and 539 and reproduced figure 35 Provenance:M. and Mme. Luc Choquette, Montreal Dominion Gallery, Montreal Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1970 Exhibited:Dominion Gallery, Exposition Borduas, October 2 - 13, 1943, catalogue #51 Cercle universitaire, Exposition de peinture canadienne, February 1947 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Some Modern Canadians, August 1 - August 30, 1953 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Paul-Émile Borduas, 1905 - 1960, January 11 - February 11, 1962, traveling in 1962 to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, The Art Gallery of Toronto and Musée du Québec, catalogue #42 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Paul-Émile Borduas Retrospective, May 6 - September 11, 1988, catalogue #37 La danseuse jaune et la bête was exhibited for the first time at the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, in 1943. This exhibition was much anticipated, because after the brilliant 1942 show of 45 Surrealist gouache works at l'Ermitage, Collège de Montréal, collectors, critics and amateurs were asking themselves what Paul-Émile Borduas could do in the medium of oil. After all, gouache was an easier medium to manipulate than oil. How was it possible to transpose into the medium of oil, the spontaneity of inspiration and the vivacity of colours which had been so evident in gouache? In fact, Borduas took some time to find the solution. Gouache is a fast-drying medium - you could paint a whole work in gouache in a relatively short period of time. Moreover, the fact that water has a strong surface tension makes it possible to juxtapose well-defined areas of colour without risking the seeping of one colour into the other. To obtain the same effect in oil, the artist would have to wait long periods between each colour application, since oil is a slow-drying medium. It was difficult in these circumstances to maintain the unity of inspiration obtained in the gouache. On the other hand, since the surface tension of oil is much lower than that of water, the line between two adjacent areas of oil colour tended to be blurred. The solution, envisaged by Borduas in 1943, was to abandon completely the traditional division between line and colour that was still prevalent in the gouaches. Borduas first painted a rather dark background, as seen here in La danseuse jaune et la bête, and let it dry for a few days. On this perfectly dry background he then painted freely (and rapidly) the objects - the yellow dancer on the right and the beast on the left - which are detached from the background. In other words, he adopted a formula close to landscape, where some objects - trees, animals or people, for instance - detach themselves from a background that recedes behind them. In La danseuse jaune et la bête, the reminiscence of the gouaches is still very strong. The objects do not detach themselves from the background as clearly as they will do later on (as in Carquois fleuris, 1947, or Parachutes végétaux, 1947, respectively at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa). One more comment about the title. As with other paintings of Borduas's Automatist period, La danseuse jaune et la bête was completely non-preconceived, that is to say it had no subject matter to begin with. It is only after the fact that Borduas gave it a title. The title is then just a possible reading of the painting, not the reflection of the painter's intention. Nevertheless, it is possible, as I said before, to distinguish two forms facing each other - one more feminine, the other more menacing - a Surrealist interpretation of The Beauty and the Beast! Maybe it is this transitional character - between the gouaches of 1942 and the oils of 1943 and later - that had attracted his first collector, the pharmacist Luc Choquette, to La danseuse jaune et la bête. He belonged, with Gérard Lortie, Gérard Beaulieu, Maurice Corbeil and Jo Barcelo, to the first generation of French Canadian collectors who became clients of the Dominion Gallery. Encouraged by the critic Maurice Gagnon, they were ready to take some risks and built very fine collections. Luc Choquette had discriminating taste and it is a plus that this work was once owned by him. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay. The consignor will donate the proceeds from the sale of this work to Canadian charities.
Heffel
May. 26, 2010
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $80,000 - $120,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Persistance des noirs 18 x 15 inches 45.7 x 38.1 centimeters signed and dated 1955 and on verso titled on three gallery labels and inscribed with the Martha Jackson Gallery inventory #1525 on the stretcher and on the gallery label Literature:Martha Jackson, Paul-Émile Borduas, Paintings 1953 - 1956, Martha Jackson Gallery, 1957, unpaginated François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 383, 384, 449 and 493, reproduced figure 93 René Payant, ""The Tenacity of the Sign"", Artscanada, Volume XXXV, no. 224/225, December 1978 - January 1979, page 34 Provenance:Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, 1957 Private Collection, Ontario Exhibited:Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, Brazil, IIIe Bienal de São Paulo, June - October 1955, titled as Persistencia dos pretos, catalogue #12 in the Canadian section Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Artistas canadenses, November 24 - December 11, 1955, titled as Persistencia dos pretos, catalogue #12 Martha Jackson, New York, Paul-Émile Borduas, Paintings 1953 - 1956, March 19 - April 16, 1957 Arthur Tooth & Sons, London, England, Two Canadian Painters, Paul-Émile Borduas, Harold Town, October 7 - 25, 1958 Manchester Institute of Contemporary Arts (Manchester City Art Gallery, Athenaeum Annex), Canadian Trio: Paul-Émile Borduas - William Newcombe - Jean-Paul Riopelle, September 29 - October 29, 1961, catalogue #3 This is a painting that has traveled a lot. It was shown at the third Bienal at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, June to October 1955, under the title Persistencia dos pretos. But as a label affixed to the back of the painting shows, it was also shown in Rio de Janeiro, at the Museu de Arte Moderna soon after, at the end of November and beginning of December 1955. This Bienal was an important event - since its inception in 1951, the Bienal de São Paulo wanted to create in the Americas an event analogous to the Venice Biennale in Europe. Paul-Émile Borduas and Jean-Paul Riopelle were representing Canada on this occasion. Their participation had been sponsored by the National Gallery of Canada under Robert H. Hubbard's curatorship, and a catalogue was published indicating that Borduas had 12 recent paintings at this show. Our painting, catalogue #12, was the last mentioned. The painting was later consigned to the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York, as attested to by another label on the back of the painting. After the death of Borduas, the painting was exhibited in England, at the Manchester Institute of Contemporary Arts, in September and October of 1961. Borduas's work was exhibited there again, along with the work of Riopelle and William Newcombe. I mentioned Persistance des noirs in a footnote of my 1977 catalogue Borduas and America/Borduas et l'Amérique for the Vancouver Art Gallery, but it was not presented at this exhibition. It is an extraordinary painting - notice the many directions of the palette knife applying thick layers of paint, as if Borduas was determined to occupy the whole surface at once. The white seems to have been added towards the end of the process, on a darker and more colorful background, and it is indeed a miracle that the blacks have persisted. In this work, Borduas seems to make a synthesis of his own painting until then. He was always fascinated by the suggestion of depth, but under the impact of the painting of New York, he moved towards a more two-dimensional space. The fact that the black has persisted in creating openings in the white surface, shows a will not to lose the third dimension completely. We are still far from the Black and White paintings of his Parisian period, but nevertheless on the way. On the other hand, Borduas has renounced the relationship to the object that was so conspicuous in his automatist paintings (see La danseuse jaune et la bête, lot 20 in this sale). Now the painting is purely gestural, creating an effect of proximity between the onlooker and the painter, which is very touching after so many years. My colleague, René Payant, used to speak of the "indexality" of these Borduas paintings, meaning that there is a direct causal relation between the effect created by the painting and the handling of the medium by the painter. The presence of the painter producing the work is felt as immediate and real. It is not surprising that Borduas saw his own painting as emotionally charged, the synthesis of so many feelings. If I may be allowed to quote myself, in reviewing the 12 paintings shown at São Paulo, I wrote, "Il s'agit certainement d'un des tableaux les plus intéressants de la série. [Certainly it is one of the more attractive paintings of the series.]" I have not changed my opinion. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
Dec. 03, 2009
PAUL-ÉMILE BORDUAS 1905 - 1960
Est: $180,000 - $240,000
COMPOSITION signed and dated l.r.: Borduas '56; titled and dated on a label on the reverse
Sotheby's
Nov. 26, 2009
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $275,000 - $375,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Arabesque "42 x 32 inches 106.7 x 81.3 centimeters signed and dated 1955 and on verso titled and dated on the artist's label Literature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, pages 384 and 528 Provenance:Gilles Corbeil, Maurice Corbeil and Gérard Beaulieu, 1955 Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal Private Collection, Victoria Paul-Émile Borduas's 1955 canvas Arabesque appears on a list of 18 paintings acquired by Gilles Corbeil, acting on behalf of his brother Maurice Corbeil, the well-known industrialist and collector, Gérard Beaulieu and himself. Borduas dated this list of works September 17, 1955. He was about to depart for Paris on September 21, when he embarked on the Liberté with his daughter Jeannine. In fact, the acquisition of this important collection of paintings was decided earlier, since we know that it was paid for on August 31, and that the first discussions about this deal date back as far as March 1955, when Gilles Corbeil visited Borduas at his New York Studio. Borduas was very happy about this sale on the eve of his departure, since it made his sojourn in Paris easier. He was very appreciative of Gilles Corbeil, one of his staunch supporters in Canada, and on the back of one of the paintings of the series, Carnet de bal, 1955, he wrote: "À mon cher Gilles en témoignage d'une rencontre."""" (To my dear Gilles, as a token of an encounter.) One thing that this brief contextualization made clear is that Arabesque and the other paintings acquired at that time belonged to Borduas's New York period. Even if, as in this painting, they indicated by certain characteristics the future development of his Black and White paintings, they are to be understood exclusively in the context of New York painting. It is clear, for instance, that in Arabesque, Borduas has completely assimilated the idea of an all-over composition, prevalent then in New York. All-overness could e defined more as a way to construct a painting than to compose one, since the idea was to get rid of the well-organized pictorial space of European painting. No planning in advance was necessary, and no sketches either. The picture was a risky experience, but full of promise. In an all-over painting there is no one major point of focalization, but many of them, all of equal importance. There is also no hierarchy between the elements, and the whole surface seems equally occupied. You might have the impression that it could go on like this in all directions, and that what we see is only a small section of a more extended phenomenon. And often, just a portion of the painting gives an effect quite similar to the whole. But what gives the painting its title is the arabesque motif in red that we see superimposed as calligraphic signs written on the white or black background. Borduas seems to have been fascinated by this decorative motif, since we know of at least two other paintings with the same title (one rom 1951 and another from 1956). As we know, the arabesque is an element of Islamic art, consisting of a repetitive geometric form used to decorate the walls of a mosque, because, by definition, it avoids any form of iconography. The repeated calligraphic arabesques in Borduas's painting have the same meaning. They exclude any figurative reading of the painting and call for a more formalist approach. When this is understood, the effect of the whole painting is quite spectacular. In Arabesque, one has the sense of spontaneity and control, of order and movement, of organic forms and geometry. The white background is extremely rich in color, with warm grey and bistre accents, and full of movement - almost musical. Borduas revealed himself here as perfectly able to assimilate the prevalent trend of New York painting of the 1950s, and to immerse it in a completely personal idiom. This work is indeed a masterpiece. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies i Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay. This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné of the artist's work at: http://www.borduas.concordia.ca/accueil/index.php "
Heffel
Nov. 26, 2009
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $100,000 - $150,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Allegro furioso "28 x 24 3/4 inches 71.1 x 62.9 centimeters signed and dated 1949 and on verso titled on the stretcher and a label Literature:Paul-Émile Borduas, François-Marc Gagnon and Dennis Young, Écrits/Writings 1942 - 1958, (Nova Scotia Series) Projections libérantes, English translation, 1978, pages 81 and 115 Provenance:The Morris Gallery, Toronto Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1972 "Enfin libre de peindre!" (At last, free to paint!) exclaimed Paul-Émile Borduas when, after the publication of the manifesto Refus global in 1948, he lost his job at the École du meuble. Indeed, his painting production in 1949, done at the same time as the pamphlet Projections libérantes that he wrote in his defense, is abundant. By the spring of 1949, he already had 18 recent works to exhibit with his friends, the Viau brothers. Allegro furioso was not shown on this occasion and probably dates to a little later in the same year. Borduas, who had been in the habit of giving sequential numbers for the titles of his paintings (for example, 8:48 for the eighth painting of 1948), abandoned this practice in 1949 - so we are less sure about the exact succession of the paintings from then on. It is an aptly titled canvas! Borduas had many reasons to feel both happy (allegro) and furious (furioso) at that time. He was happy to be able to resume painting, worried because painting became - with the exception of some drawing lessons given to the children of Saint-Hilaire - his only source of income, and furious with the authorities, both civil and religious, that caused him to lose his job because of his beliefs. Projections libérantes was written precisely to give vent to this anger and to express defiance against the powers that wanted to crush him. "You have ended it!" he wrote at the end of Projections libérantes - "So be it! But I defy any power to erase its memory or its example." In Allegro furioso, as he often did during his Automatist period, Borduas proceeded in two steps. First, the background was treated almost like a landscape, in green at the bottom with vigorous strokes, and in a more gentle way, greyish at the top; one almost sees a horizon line at the visual centre of the painting. Second, the objects, painted as he often did with a spatula, stand out in the foreground. But what is different here, which was typical of his paintings of 1947 and 1948, is the fact that these objects seem to enter from the left and go out at the right of the pictorial space. This gives an impression of movement to the whole scene, and the fact that one encounters many pointed shapes augments this impression. Moreover, if you follow the spatula, you will see movement and counter-movement, leaps forward and backward, as if you were listening to music. With the suggestion of movement, we are not, indeed, so far from music, which is probably the reason for the title - given, as always, after the fact. There are some allusi ns to music in the works of Borduas - a 1955 painting was titled Tango, another from 1957, Symphonie en damier blanc, and there are others: Chant de fête, 1956, Chant de la Pierre, 1956 and Chant d'été, 1955. The idea of transposing music into painting has always been a temptation for artists, especially abstract painters. But it also must be said that painting as such is "mute", as they used to say in the 17th century - movement and music are, by definition, out of its bounds. It is only through the movement of the hand of the painter and of the eyes of the onlooker that something like music can be translated mentally into image. Here, Borduas has succeeded very well. He is just asking us to listen with our eyes. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay. This work is included in François-Marc Gagnon's online catalogue raisonné of the artist's work at: http://www.borduas.concordia.ca/a cueil/index.php The consignor will donate the proceeds from the sale of this work to Canadian charities. h "
Heffel
Jun. 25, 2009
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian mixed
Est: $4,500 - $6,500
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian mixed media on paper Sans titre 12 x 9 1/2 inches 30.5 x 24.1 centimeters signed Literature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas: Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, the similar 1924 gouache on paper work entitled Les trois soeurs reproduced, unpaginated, #4, index of black and white works Provenance:Private Collection, Montreal This work could be a study for or another version of the gouache painting entitled Les trois soeurs which is reproduced in François-Marc Gagnon's biography on Borduas. On verso, there is an unfinished pencil and watercolour study of leaves by the artist. The inscription on this study, written by a previous owner, translates from the french as ""Precious souvenir from a young artist battling with life. Marguerite de Montigny Lafontaine, painter and sculptor, June 14, 1972.""
Heffel
Jun. 17, 2009
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $80,000 - $100,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Ouvertures imprévues 13 x 16 inches 33 x 40.6 centimeters signed and dated 1956 and on verso titled on the Dominion Gallery label Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Ontario Ouvertures imprévues belongs to Paul-Émile Borduas's Parisian period of 1955 to 1960. In 1956, Borduas, who had not yet succeeded in making any fruitful contact with galleries or museums in Paris, received successive visits from Canadian gallery owners and collectors, who acquired most of his production of the preceding months. Max Stern of the Dominion Gallery in Montreal came in May and acquired 13 oil on canvases, among them our Ouvertures imprévues, and 11 watercolours. Soon after, Montreal collectors Gerard and Gisele Lortie visited Borduas's studio and acquired six paintings; in July, Montreal gallery owner Agnès Lefort bought two paintings; in August, R.H. Hubbard from the National Gallery obtained the famous Sea Gull; and finally in eptember, Martha Jackson, the well-known New York gallery owner, acquired nine of his most recent paintings. This enabled Borduas to take a break after this intensive period of work; he bought a Simca convertible car and made a trip to Italy later in September. All these commercial activities were certainly beneficial for the painter, but create some difficulties for the historian! Paintings sold to gallery owners or to private collectors tend to disappear from sight and render the task of reconstructing the painter's development difficult. For instance, of all the oil on canvas works acquired by Max Stern in May, only one was known until recently - the famous Expansion rayonnante, a black and white work from 1956, now in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (a gift of Dr. and Mrs. Stern in 1978). This is why the emergence of Ouvertures imprévues is so exciting. Obviously it precedes the advent of his black and white paintings, but more importantly, it shows how Borduas finally succeeded n integrating the New York-influenced watercolours that he had made two years previously. In New York, Borduas had been intrigued by Jackson Pollock's drip technique and had tried his hand at it in some of his watercolours of 1954. But nothing of that transpired in his oils of the period. It was only in Paris two years later, as our Ouvertures imprévues clearly shows, that he found a way to integrate, if not dripping itself, at least an equivalent of it by delicate traces of the painter's knife used on its edge here and there above the white, grey and red background. These traces of black are in fact more calligraphic, almost Japanese, than anything done by Pollock and show how Borduas succeeded in adapting his own vocabulary for what had fascinated him before. These traces of black were obviously added to a white and grey (with tiny spots of red) composition and tended to suggest a reading in depth. Perhaps this is what suggested the title of Unpredicted Openings. When these "openings" would begin to e painted in solid black instead of these subtle gradations of grey and brown, we would enter the black and white period for which Borduas is famous. Here we are just before this event in his development and it is because of this, I believe, that Ouvertures imprévues is so touching. It is a perfectly controlled composition, alternating vertical and horizontal strokes of white and grey that come from the four edges of the surface towards the centre, where most of the "openings" occur. This is Borduas at his best. In Paris he spoke of his admiration for Mondrian, and something of that regard is shown in this rigorous composition. But the spontaneity and the obvious speed and mastery of the handling of paint make us forget whatever influences may have played here, and we are delighted with the sheer beauty of the painting. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
Feb. 26, 2009
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian limited
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian limited edition book Le Refus Global 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches 21.6 x 19 centimeters editioned 131/400 Provenance:A gift from Paul-Émile Borduas to the present Private Collection, Montreal Refus global was a revolutionary document, not only aesthetically but also socially and politically; after its publication, Borduas was fired from the teaching position he had held since 1937 at the École du meuble in Montreal. This book is a first edition copy of this historic artistic manifesto, launched in Montreal on August 9, 1948. In addition to the main text by Borduas, this document, mimeographed by a small local press, contains essays, two plays, drawings and photographs, all the contributions of its fifteen other signatories, namely Magdeleine Arbour, Marcel Barbeau, Bruno Cormier, Claude Gauvreau, Pierre Gauvreau, Muriel Guilbault, Marcelle Ferron, Fernand Leduc, Thérèse Leduc, Jean-Paul Mousseau, Maurice Perron, Louise Renaud, Françoise Riopelle, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Françoise Sullivan. Please note that this work is accompanied by three books: the booklet Projections libérantes by Paul-Émile Borduas; the catalogue of the 1962 Borduas exhibit organized by the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Toronto as well as Le Refus Global vingt ans après by Adèle Lauzon.
Heffel
Nov. 27, 2008
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 ~- 1960 Canadian book Le
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 ~- 1960 Canadian book Le Refus Global 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches 21.6 x 19 centimeters editioned 131/400 Provenance:A gift from Paul-Émile Borduas to the present Private Collection, Montreal Please note that this work is accompanied by three books: the booklet Projections libérantes by Paul-Émile Borduas; the catalogue of the 1962 Borduas exhibit organized by the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Toronto and Le Refus Global vingt ans après by Adèle Lauzon.
Heffel
Nov. 19, 2008
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on
Est: $300,000 - $400,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian oil on canvas Mazurka 42 x 32 inches 106.7 x 81.3 centimeters signed and dated 1955 and on verso titled on the artist's label and stamped Galerie Agnès Lefort three times on the stretcher Literature:François-Marc Gagnon, Paul-Émile Borduas (1905 - 1960), Biographie critique et analyse de l'oeuvre, 1978, listed page 384 Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist in New York by Gilles Corbeil, Maurice Corbeil and Gérard Beaulieu Galerie Agnès Lefort, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal Borduas was close to his departure for Paris when, in March of 1955, his friend Gilles Corbeil visited him in New York. The two men discussed the possibility of a big sale of his recent production to Montreal collectors. Corbeil had been delegated by his brother Maurice and by Gérard Beaulieu to explore the possibility with Borduas. The idea was both to help him financially for his impending departure to Paris and to empty the studio before he left. Mazurka was part of a group of 18 paintings finally agreed upon and acquired by the trio of men. Borduas was paid on August 31 and left New York for Paris a few weeks later, on September 21. The 18 paintings were expedited to Montreal on the very eve of his departure (the bill of lading is dated September 20). The collectors were to divide the group of works between themselves and each one was free to do what he wanted with his share. We don't know which one of the three acquired Mazurka. One thing is sure; he didn't keep it for himself but sold it to a Montreal collector through Agnès Lefort Gallery's good services. This makes sense, since Mrs. Lefort had held a major Borduas show at her gallery the year before, was familiar with his works and had contacts with collectors. This anecdote would not be of very great interest if it had not solved one problem: the dating of the work. Mazurka is dated on the painting itself, in the upper left corner. A 1955 Borduas painting could just as likely have been done in Paris, but in this case, we are sure that Mazurka was painted in New York and represents the acme of his New York period. It is a beautiful painting, playing not only with the contrast of black and white, but also with the effects of transparency in the blue, pink and grey. Mazurka is a good title for this painting, suggesting centrifugal movement from the center to the periphery, especially in its lower half. There is definitively the feeling of a dance movement, such as Polish dances. Is it not traditional for peasant women to wear white shirts emblazoned with red when dancing the mazurka? One could add that among the 18 paintings bought, a number had titles referring to dance, such as Tango, Carnet de bal and Blancs tournoiements. What is more important than these associations suggested by the title is the structure of the painting. In New York, confronted with Abstract Expressionism, Borduas was able to substantially modify the system of his previous period. Instead of having objects in suspension in front of a background receding to infinity as in his Automatist period, he had on one hand, the background migrating closer and closer to the surface of the painting, destroying any easy effect of depth, and on the other hand, was getting rid of the objects themselves. What he succeeded in creating was a much more unified field in which both the movement of the palette knife and the nuance of colours stand for themselves. The new freedom gained this way opened for Borduas a complete new world of associations and inventions. This is why I spoke of the acme of the New York period à propos Mazurka. In Paris, as we know, Borduas went one step further by introducing the renowned black spots in his white background paintings in his famous black and white period. Blacks were already making an appearance in Mazurka and the transparency in certain areas suggested a possibility of a new sense of depth. Borduas's oeuvre is extremely coherent, and historically, with Mazurka, we have an important link in his development. It is a painting worthy of the best attention of collectors. We thank François-Marc Gagnon of the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute of Studies in Canadian Art, Concordia University, for contributing the above essay.
Heffel
Nov. 19, 2008
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian book Refus
Est: $8,000 - $10,000
Paul-Émile Borduas 1905 - 1960 Canadian book Refus Global 8 5/8 x 7 1/4 inches 21.9 x 18.4 centimeters editioned 202/400 Provenance:Librairie Tranquille, Montreal Acquired from the above in 1948 by the present Private Collection, Toronto This copy of Refus Global was acquired by the current owner at its launch at Librairie Tranquille in 1948 in Montreal. The consignor has fond memories of that day, particularly of the live readings and dance performances by signatories of the manifesto, such as Françoise Sullivan. Included with this lot is a copy of the 1949 pamphlet, Projections Libérantes, published in an edition of 1,000.
Heffel
Nov. 21, 2005
[ CANADIAN ART ] paul-emile BORDUAS (1905-1960) STILL LIFE WITH BREAD AND LEMON oil on canvas 34.2 by 34.2 cm. 13.5 by 13.5 in. This early still life reveals the influence of Ozias Leduc on the young Borduas. Leduc was an established artist and a
Est: $8,000 - $12,000
[ CANADIAN ART ] paul-emile BORDUAS (1905-1960) STILL LIFE WITH BREAD AND LEMON oil on canvas 34.2 by 34.2 cm. 13.5 by 13.5 in. This early still life reveals the influence of Ozias Leduc on the young Borduas. Leduc was an established artist and a native of St. Hilaire where be became Borduas's teacher and mentor. During the seminal years 1922-23 Borduas explored still life painting while Leduc encouraged him to learn through copying Old Master paintings. PROVENANCE: Given to the present owner's grandmother while she was employed as the Bourduas's housekeeeper in St.Hilaire, Quebec in the 1940'; Thence by descent to Private Collection, Montreal
Sotheby's
Nov. 21, 2005
[ CANADIAN ART ] paul-emile BORDUAS (1905-1960) CASCADE VERTICALE signed and dated '1956' oil on canvas 59.7 by 49.5 cm. 23.5 by 19.5 in. In August of 1955 Borduas moved to Paris and was to live there for the remainder of his life. It was in France
Est: $80,000 - $100,000
[ CANADIAN ART ] paul-emile BORDUAS (1905-1960) CASCADE VERTICALE signed and dated '1956' oil on canvas 59.7 by 49.5 cm. 23.5 by 19.5 in. In August of 1955 Borduas moved to Paris and was to live there for the remainder of his life. It was in France in 1956 that his work underwent significant changes as he furthered his exploration of white pigment until they became, in his words, 'whiter and whiter, more and more 'objective'...' As Francois-Marc Gagnon remarks, 'A change, however, took place shortly after Borduas made this statement - probably in the summer of 1956 - that considerably modified the image of his painting. The white screen of his paintings is torn apart to reveal a black background.' Interestingly, Cascade Verticale seems to mark a specific point within this transitional period - moving away from the earlier totality of white pigment, but not yet using black as a ground or larger shaped fields. By introducing black to the surface and experimenting with colour, this important canvas marks the beginning of Borduas' mature period. PROVENANCE: Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London Acquired directly from the above by Lady d'Avigdor-Goldsmid in 1957 Thence by descent to the present owner ( Private Collection, England) LITERATURE: Francois-Marc Gagnon, Paul- Emile Borduas, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1976, p.25
Sotheby's