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LOT 155

ARCA
1888 - 1970
Canadian

Hochelaga
oil on board
signed and on verso signed, dated circa 1940 on the museum label and certified by Fortin inventory #H-0779
17 1/2 x 21 1/2 in, 44.4 x 54.6 cm

Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 CAD

Sold for: $52,650

Preview at: Heffel Vancouver

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Montreal

LITERATURE
Michèle Grandbois, editor, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, The Experience of Colour, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2011, pages 108 and 110, similar views of Hochelaga reproduced pages 108, 109, 110, 138 and 140

EXHIBITED
Musée Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Montreal, Hochelaga d'après Marc-Aurèle Fortin, 2006 (virtual exhibit on the museum's website)


The two centres of Marc-Aurèle Fortin’s artistic life were Sainte-Rose and Montreal. In Montreal, he lived in a historic part of the city, often painting in Hochelaga, where he was fascinated with change due to industrialization. Fortin related that he often “walked along the railway track that ran below St. Catherine Street all the way up to Hochelaga. There I would sit a hundred times in the same place…..All you had [to do] was turn around and things were changing.” He painted this multi-tiered view of vibrant urbanity from the 1920s to the 1940s, always including the spire of the Church of Nativité-de-la-Sainte-Vierge rising above it all. In this work, Fortin uses brilliant colour against a black background to striking effect. Contrasting with the urban density is the farmland at its edge and the stunning sky. Fortin’s views of Hochelaga received considerable critical acclaim; both the National Gallery of Canada and The Art Gallery of Toronto acquired Hochelaga works and, as Michèle Grandbois points out, “The visibility of Fortin’s work at home and abroad throughout the 1930s was due primarily to his views of Hochelaga.”


Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000 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.