Sold for: $23,750

PROVENANCE
Collection of Léon Bellefleur
By descent to a Private Collection, England
Sold sale of Post-War & Contemporary Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 22, 2012, lot 10
Private Collection, Montreal

LITERATURE
Robert Enright, Marcelle Ferron: Monograph, 2008, page 10

After her studies at the École des beaux-arts in Quebec City and the École du Meuble in Montreal, Marcelle Ferron was introduced to the possibilities of abstraction by fellow painter Paul Émile Borduas. She eventually joined his entourage, a circle of artists that would later be known as the Automatists and who published the 1948 Refus Global manifesto. The Refus global signaled not only an important cultural shift in Quebec society, but also encouraged artists towards a more expressive and instinctive approach to technique and a liberation from figurative art. The restlessness and bravado of the Automatist movement are visible in this work that bridges two of Ferron's strongest periods. While drawing on the rhythmic staccatos of her 1950s pieces, this work also anticipates the more ample swathes of colour and larger formats that are iconic of her 1960s production. Here, Ferron carefully arranges an ensemble of richly-coloured planes, creating a luminous mosaic. To cite art critic and curator Robert Enright ''From the beginning, she indicated an instinct for structure over gesture and a predilection for shape over line.''

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