ONLINE AUCTION
Post-War & Contemporary Art
1st session

November 02 - November 30, 2023

LOT DETAILS
          
          
          
          

This session is closed for bidding.
Current bid: $25,000 CAD
Bidding History
Paddle # Date Amount

17356 30-Nov-2023 12:58:50 PM $25,000

187 30-Nov-2023 12:52:55 PM $22,500

17356 30-Nov-2023 12:18:51 PM $20,000

187 30-Nov-2023 11:49:11 AM $19,000

The bidding history list updated on: Thursday, October 31, 2024 07:26:27

LOT 225

OC
1927 - 2023
Canadian

The River
acrylic on canvas
signed and dated 1979 and on verso signed, titled and inscribed "AC-3-79"
45 x 76 in, 114.3 x 193 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

Sold for: $31,250

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Downstairs Gallery, Edmonton
Acquired from the above by a Private Collection, Edmonton
By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver


There is perhaps no one in the post-war landscape tradition with a more nuanced and delicate handling of light than Dorothy Knowles. As in this work, one of her primary subjects is the prairies of Western Canada, which is known amongst artists to have exceptionally rich, even painterly, natural light. It’s the expression of that light to which Knowles has dedicated her illustrious 70 year career.

A central means by which Knowles deals with luminosity in this period is her use of media. These subtle washes of thinned paint have their roots in the “soak-stain” techniques of Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and perhaps most comparably, Helen Frankenthaler. Another commonality of these artist is some degree of engagement with the influential New York art critic Clement Greenberg. The same was true for Knowles – Greenberg attended the 1962 Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop in north-central Saskatchewan, which were initiated by Kenneth Lochhead and Arthur McKay in 1955. While history now most relates Greenberg to post-painterly abstraction, he encouraged Knowles to continue on with her representational practice, into which she incorporated the leading influences of the time.


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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