Sold for: $31,250

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, British Columbia
Canadian Post-War Art (from 1945 to the 1970's), Heffel Fine Art Auction House, September 29, 2007, lot 22
Private Collection, Toronto

The 1950s were a key moment for abstract painting in Canada, and this work by Tom Hodgson emerges from that influential era. In Quebec, multiple groups began to coalesce around varying theories and approaches with names such as Les Automatistes and Les Plasticiens, while in Ontario, a like-minded group women and men formed what would become called Painters 11, with Hodgson among them. The contributions of these artists form an essential and unavoidable juncture in Canadian art.

Hodgson’s style is often drastic and expressive, while still maintaining a romantic and organic tone, and those hallmarks are on full display here. Notably, Hodgson’s practice would return at various times to the figurative, and while remaining a thoroughly abstract image, facets of the human form could be read into this composition, which speaks beautifully to the lyrical qualities of his approach. Impressive, rare, and striking, this work stands a major example from one Canadian art’s most significant periods.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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