Lot 32: Samuel Borenstein 1908 - 1969 Canadian oil on

Samuel Borenstein 1908 - 1969 Canadian oil on canvas Falling Red Leaves 30 x 22 inches 76.2 x 55.9 centimeters signed and on verso titled and dated 1955 on a label Literature:William Kuhns and Léo Rosshandler, Sam Borenstein, 1978, reproduced page 65 Provenance:Louis and Rose Melzack Collection Private Collection, London, England Exhibited:Art Gallery of Hamilton, Sam Borenstein, September - October, 1974 The mid-1950s brought great change for Sam Borenstein, both artistically and personally. William Kuhns wrote, "As Borenstein's work of the fifties evolved, his strokes grew bolder, his colours more vivid, the effect more volatile...Perspective, so elaborately achieved in the earlier landscapes, often had a seething, insecure quality - as though the spaces themselves were vulnerable to the eruptions going on within a canvas." Borenstein and his wife, Judith, were in difficult financial circumstances at the time and Borenstein was forced to ask his friend, Montreal entrepreneur Louis Melzack, for assistance. Melzack and his wife, Rose, owned Classic Bookstore, a popular bookstore on St. Catherines Street, which also served as a cultural hub in Montreal. Melzack acquired 40 Borenstein paintings, which were hung and sold in the store, and as a result, the artist's work was introduced to a wider, elite audience. All the Borensteins in this sale, including Falling Red Leaves, are from the important Melzack collection.