Sold for: $20,000

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist
By descent to a Private Collection, Vancouver
Sold sale of Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 15, 2013, lot 24
Private Collection, Vancouver

The 1960s were a formative period for Gordon Smith. At the beginning of the decade, Smith gained international exposure by showing at the Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil in 1960, and was awarded a Canada Council fellowship to travel and study in Europe that same year. Also at this time he was teaching at the University of British Columbia, and a fellow faculty member acquired Things on a Table directly from him. One of Smith’s many strengths as an artist is his unique ability to transform any subject matter into individual painterly expressions, as exemplified in this work. What the “things” are is not entirely clear – perhaps some fruit, other foods, a plate – that are abstracted through varying planes of colour and shape. The central forms hover with bright energy against the dark background, drawing parallels to his non-representational works of the early 1960s. Things on a Table is clearly a still life, as the title suggests, yet possesses a unique complexity through his brilliant use of paint and its properties. This balance of definition and abstraction continues to play an important role throughout his body of work – notably in his landscapes – to the present day.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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