BCSFA RCA
1890 - 1969
Canadian
Arizona Sunlight
oil on board, circa 1953 - 1955
on verso signed, titled on the Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition label and inscribed "4760 Belmont Ave, Vancouver" / "Howard" / "B-10" and "29"
26 x 22 in, 66 x 55.9 cm
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000 CAD
Sold for: $1,250
Preview at:
PROVENANCE
Collection of the Artist
Estate of Howard K. Harris
By descent within the Harris family to the present Private Collection
EXHIBITED
Vancouver Art Gallery, "Do You Own a Contemporary Painting?" 11th Annual Exhibition and Sale sponsored by the Women's Auxiliary to the Vancouver Art Gallery, 1985
In 1938, Bess and Lawren Harris moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, finding much inspiration and energy in this new region and its exciting abstract art community. In a letter to a friend, Bess described the place as “a land of great beauty and a wonderful quality of air which seems to invite creative activity.” World War II and the resulting limitations on accessing Canadian funds necessitated their departure back to Canada in 1940. At the time, they considered this a potentially temporary move, but ended up permanently settling in Vancouver. They did, however, return to visit the southwestern United States, holidaying in Tucson, Arizona in 1953 and 1954, and Yuma, Arizona in 1955. It is from one of these visits that the inspiration for this work originates - and it is a joyous celebration of both the bright light found there, and the power of abstraction that had been their focus during that time.
We thank Alec Blair, Director/Lead Researcher, Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, for contributing the above essay.
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