Sold for: $25,000

PROVENANCE
Collection of Hilti Canada Limited
Gallery Quan, Toronto, 1982
Canadian Post War & Contemporary art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 27, 2015, lot 031
Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Barry Callaghan and Kay Woods, Ronald: 25 Years, The Robert McLaughlin Art Gallery, 1975, reproduced page 9

Four Seasons is notable not only for its lively image, but also as a reflection of many aspects of the artist’s stylistic growth and personal history. One can trace a steady evolution in William Ronald’s approach to abstraction throughout the 1950s, from his earliest riffs on Cubism and his Jackson Pollock-inspired experiments with action painting to his powerful central-image paintings employing an ever-richer gamut of colour and texture. Ronald could never be pinned down to one idea or format, often creating works with an emotional energy that demanded an instinctive combination of visual elements, as in Four Seasons. Here we see a slatted framework, reminiscent of the backdrop in his outstanding 1959 work The Gypsy. Within this framework is the vibrating outline of an opening - possibly a window or a screen door - on which he has written 403 SUZ A. The artist’s widow, Helen, agrees that this is a clear reference to Ronald’s then two-year-old daughter, Suzanne, and, on reflection, recalled that they had purchased a new car that year, a Peugeot model 403.

This work is certified by the William Ronald Authentic Inventory # WRAI.1959.0010

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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