PC CC
1920 - 2013
Canadian
Study for The River Thames
crayon, ink and pencil on paper
signed and dated 20 November 1970 and on verso titled and dated on the gallery labels
6 x 6 in, 15.2 x 15.2 cm
Estimate: $12,000 - $16,000 CAD
Sold for: $34,250
Preview at: Heffel Toronto – 135 Yorkville Ave
PROVENANCE
Fischer Fine Art Limited, London, England
Marlborough-Godard, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
LITERATURE
David Burnett, Alex Colville, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983, page 200, two 1972 ink drawings entitled Study for River Thames reproduced page 200 and the 1974 painting The River Thames reproduced page 212 and listed page 250
Alex Colville often depicted members of his family in his works, and in this image the figure is his daughter Ann. Colville was known for his devotion to his family - as David Burnett writes, "He was sensitive both as a father and as an artist to the process of his children growing up." There is a feeling of vulnerability in the painting derived from this study, as the young woman contemplates the great river flowing through the city of London - submerged in the enormity of that urban centre. In Colville's work there is often an awareness of the individual's place in the stream of time, and here the river is the symbol of that stream. Colville's sightlines are visible in this work, showing us how he attained the carefully attuned balance between the elements of his composition that he used for the final painting.
Part of the provenance of this sensitive study is Fischer Fine Art, a prominent London dealer that sold Colville's work in the United Kingdom and Europe, contributing to him becoming an artist of international renown.
All prices are in Canadian Dollars
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