Sold for: $22,500

PROVENANCE
The Isaacs Gallery Ltd., Toronto
Canadian Art, Joyner Fine Art, November 21, 1997, lot 112
Private Collection, Toronto
Canadian Art, Joyner Fine Art, May 14, 2002, lot 227
Private Collection, Toronto

Perhaps better known for his depictions of his seemingly bucolic prairie upbringing, William Kurelek’s paintings frequently dwelled on more overtly spiritual subjects, including the artist’s sometimes apocalyptic anxieties about the material world as fed through his Catholic faith. One subject he returned to several times was the environment, in particular the threat he felt was posed to the Canadian landscape by contemporary political concerns.

In this sweeping and polemical painting, Kurelek depicts a broad forested hillside. Floating high above the treeline in the darkening twilight sky are two blimps, each declaring a tongue-in-cheek representation of the growing environmental movements and political consciousness of the 1970s. Littered on the forest floor, concealed by the canopy of trees, lies a field of discarded bottles, cans, and sheets of paper, on which are listed reams of mortal and cardinal sins: pride, envy, laziness, corruption, violence, gambling. In this wry and didactic scene, Kurelek encourages a consideration of the enduring spiritual dangers strewn among more worldly threats.

This work is in the original frame made by the artist.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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