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LOT 025

AUTO CAS OC QMG RCA SCA
1923 - 2002
Canadian

Sans titre
watercolour and ink on paper
signed and dated 1948 and on verso inscribed "Leland Smith" and "11"
10 x 13 7/8 in, 25.4 x 35.2 cm

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

Sold for: $46,250

Preview at: Heffel Montreal

PROVENANCE
Edith and Leland Smith, Paris, 1948
By descent to the present Private Collection, California

LITERATURE
Yseult Riopelle, Jean Paul Riopelle Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 1, 1939 - 1953, 1999, reproduced page 414, catalogue #1948.005P.1948


The year of Sans titre’s execution, 1948, was an important one in the acclaimed career of Jean Paul Riopelle. In that year Riopelle’s mentor, Paul-Émile Borduas, wrote the pivotal anti-establishment manifesto Refus global, which was co-signed by Riopelle. Later in that same year, Riopelle moved to Paris, where he would paint the most significant works of his career. Upon moving abroad, Riopelle was quickly immersed in the legendary Parisian artistic culture. There he met many fellow artists and intellectuals, likely including Edith and Leland Smith, a married American couple who were traveling in Europe after their wedding. The pair acquired this work in 1948. Edith was an art instructor at her alma mater, the University of California in Berkeley, and a prolific artist herself, painting and exhibiting in the United States and internationally throughout her lifetime. Leland became a professor of music composition at Stanford University. The painting returned with them to California, where it has resided until its inclusion in this auction. Sans titre is a stimulating composition with vivid colour and and a web of black lines that create a dynamic tension. It embodies Riopelle’s vigour from this significant period.


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

All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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