Sold for: $25,000

PROVENANCE
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal
Private Estate, Montreal

Growing up on a farm in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan, a young Joe Fafard was exposed to animals on a daily basis. It comes as no surprise, then, that among his most widely appreciated sculptures are his portraits of cows. An astute observationist, for Fafard there is a palpable sense that the depiction of the animal has to evoke that particular animal’s personality - its way of acting, how it moves or sits. Fafard viewed his sculptures of horses, cows and other farm animals as portraits of individuals rather than examples of a type or species. This is emphasised by the titles he gave the works: frequently these are tongue-in-cheeks jokes or idioms referring to the subject, but more often they are simply their names, imbuing cattle or workhorses with their own individuality. Claudine is an excellent example of this, and represents the artist at his most accomplished. The slouch of her posture gives the impression that she is at ease and in her element, while the lurch of her head suggests that she has maybe heard something in the field and is looking up to investigate. Her colouring is careful and exact - it is an image taken from life. The form is rough and physical, however, and distinctly hand-sculpted; this is not a mechanical copy of a cow but the artist’s impressionistic vision of Claudine. Rather than an idealised subject, this is undoubtedly a loving study of a unique animal’s character. Playful and distinctive, universal yet evocatively Western, Fafard’s cows are one of his most cherished subjects.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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