Lot 6: Raymond John Mead 1921 - 1998 Canadian oil on

Raymond John Mead 1921 - 1998 Canadian oil on canvas Objects 28 x 36 inches 71.1 x 91.4 centimeters signed and dated 1952 and on verso signed, titled and inscribed ""9 Hill Heights Court, Toronto / $100"" Provenance:Private Collection, Ontario Objects was acquired directly from the artist - perhaps as an exchange or as a gift - by a gentleman who credited Mead with helping him get his first job in the advertising industry. It has remained in the possession of that man's family ever since. At first glance, one may associate this 1952 painting with a Cubist aesthetic, but Mead was clearly still in the thrall of his Slade School instructor, Patrick Heron, and the other young moderns who formed the nexus of Cornwall's St. Ives School. Here we do not have multiple views but one pared-down view of still life objects: perhaps a ripe melon, a shiny apple and a yellow jug on a dark table, standing on a green carpet. The rich yet controlled colour range, the flattened format and strong curved shapes are more reminiscent of British artists Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth than of Pablo Picasso or Georges Braque.