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LOT 014

PC CC
1920 - 2013
Canadian

Study for Kiss with Honda
ink wash and acrylic on paper
signed and dated 30 Sept. and 2 Oct. in the margin and on verso titled and dated 1989 on the gallery label
6 1/4 x 12 3/8 in, 15.9 x 31.4 cm

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

Sold for: $18,750

Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 13 Hazelton Ave

PROVENANCE
Heffel Gallery Limited, Vancouver
Acquired from the above by an Important Private Collector, California, August 16, 1997
An Important California Trust

LITERATURE
Philip Fry, Alex Colville: Paintings, Prints and Processes, 1983 – 1994, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1994, page 94, the 1989 acrylic painting Kiss with Honda and a preparatory graphite drawing reproduced page 94


A car at night, tail lights, departure.

I even like Rodin’s “The Kiss,” and Shakespeare’s Antony:

“I am dying, Egypt, dying; only

I here importune death awhile, until

Of many thousand kisses the poor last

I lay upon thy lips.”

—Alex Colville

This fine preparatory ink and acrylic study for Alex Colville’s 1989 painting Kiss with Honda depicts Colville and his wife Rhoda sharing a kiss before he heads out from home. It shows the affection between the couple, the result of a long and fulfilled relationship. This composition includes the geometrical sightlines that Colville used to carefully hone his image, and he has settled on the positioning of the central figures and the car that are finalized in the painting. This image concerns time arrested – the past of memories shared occupies the present for a moment in which the couple exist only for each other, their separateness temporarily suspended. Colville’s poignant departure is symbolic of our temporal existence on the journey of life, in which we never know what will come, we can only fully occupy the moments of the present. Colville’s extraordinary realist images such as Kiss with Honda go far beyond the literal – they extend into the subtle realms of existence.

Please note: the image size is 6 1/4 x 12 3/8 inches and the paper sheet size is 7 3/4 x 13 1/2 inches.


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

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.