By the late 1950’s Lawren Harris had established himself in the vanguard of modern art in Canada, an advocate for new forms of expression and a pioneer in the creation and appreciation of abstract art. Since his turn to non-objective painting in the mid-1930’s, Harris continuously reinvented his approach to composition, continuously creating and recreating unique styles that were consistently novel, yet reliably recognizable as his own. Guided always by a motivation to explore the “ideas insistently forming which could not be expressed in representational terms”, Harris was relentless in his need to push beyond his previous work into new frontiers, hoping to find opportunity to convey the spirit of universal truths that he sensed formed the foundation of our lived experiences.

There is a calming subtlety to the palette chosen for Abstraction, contrasting with the bold lines and decisive forms that likely originated from line-drawing experiments done in pencil. It is a confidently rendered work, characteristic of his mid-1950’s style, where Harris utilized his mastery of colour and clarity of vision to translate semi-organic forms into landscapes of colour with expressive bursts of interactions and contrasts. Works like this helped push forward the frontiers of Canadian art, and their significance was captured by fellow prominent Vancouver artist B.C. Binning in a 1955 catalogue of Harris’ abstracts: “At a time when most men are simply summing up their past work, Lawren Harris continues to broaden and deepen the dimensions of his expression. The rhythms of his painting swirl deeper into the richness of life and broaden into larger circles, encompassing the greater joy. These are the qualities of great art.”

We thank Alec Blair, Director/Lead Researcher, Lawren S. Harris Inventory Project, for contributing the above essay.