Lot 16: GORDON MCKINLEY WEBBER, SUN SHAFTS IN A FOREST, oil on canvas, 19.5 ins x 19.5 ins; 49.5 cms x 49.5 cms

GORDON MCKINLEY WEBBER
SUN SHAFTS IN A FOREST

oil on canvas
signed
19.5 ins x 19.5 ins; 49.5 cms x 49.5 cms


Provenance:
Family of the Artist, Kitchener

With a diverse set of influences, including Arthur Lismer (who he studied under at the Ontario College of Art), the Mexican Muralists, and László Moholy-Nagy, Gordon Webber excelled in creating evocative scenes that bristle with energy. His landscapes in particular are characterized by expressive palettes and textures, and as with this painting, frequently suggest his later turn to abstraction. Looming hills are rendered as huge, scale-like facets, like full sails bowing against the wind. The deep purple cloud cover is almost fluid as it wafts across the top of the canvas, seeming to curl and surge out of the landscape. The monumentality of the scene is anchored in the foreground by a lone tree with two stark sprays of leaves that echo the distant turbulence.

Estimate: $9,000–12,000

19.5 ins x 19.5 ins; 49.5 cms x 49.5 cms

oil on canvas

Family of the Artist, Kitchener

With a diverse set of influences, including Arthur Lismer (who he studied under at the Ontario College of Art), the Mexican Muralists, and László Moholy-Nagy, Gordon Webber excelled in creating evocative scenes that bristle with energy. His landscapes in particular are characterized by expressive palettes and textures, and as with this painting, frequently suggest his later turn to abstraction. Looming hills are rendered as huge, scale-like facets, like full sails bowing against the wind. The deep purple cloud cover is almost fluid as it wafts across the top of the canvas, seeming to curl and surge out of the landscape. The monumentality of the scene is anchored in the foreground by a lone tree with two stark sprays of leaves that echo the distant turbulence.