Lot 64: Camille Souter HRHA (b.1929) UNTITLED ABSTRACT, 1956

signed and dated ["Dublin 1956"] lower right

h:9.75 w:6in.

gouache and watercolour

Waddington's, Toronto, 5 December 2016, lot 9;
Private collection, Dublin

Although it would be easy to describe the early works of Camille Souter as "abstract" they all have their basis in the representational. Cormican in his text on the artist explains that, "While representational, no attempt is made to hide the fact that we are looking at paint on paper. Accordingly, her brand of realism can occasionally be very close to appearing 'unreal'… [or] rendered in such a painterly way that they are not always recognisable". (1)

Some examples from this period were helpfully titled with the subject in mind thus connecting them to their figurative roots, however, the present untitled example offers but a fixed place and time of execution: Dublin, 1956.
The modelling and execution of these early examples - the earliest surviving date to 1955 - are reminiscent of Paul Klee (1879-1940) and Joan Miró (1893-1983).in their use of line and childlike Primitivism, although, in terms of technique they demonstrate Souter's innovations of the period (1955-1957) where traditional painting methods were mixed with monotype printing to exciting and unpredictable results as demonstrated here.

Footnote:
1. Garrett Cormican, 'Camille Souter: The Mirror in The Sea', Whyte's, Dublin, 2006, p.18