Contemporary Canadian Art has Never had it so Good
LISE GERVAIS, Les Jeux Controptiques Opus 3.
Oil on canvas, 106.7 x 101.6 cm (42 x 40 in)
Source: Sotheby’s Canada
As the spring season approaches many collectors are beginning to salivate at the thought of the up-coming Canadian Art sales and why not, contemporary Canadian art has never had it so good. After fifteen years of consecutive growth and auction records set for an astounding 25 artists at that last Sotheby’s/Ritchie’s sale, collectors are beginning to see the benefits of buying Canadian. The Painters Eleven produced some of the best results last fall with Kazuo Nakamura ($48,000), Jack Bush ($43,200 for a work on paper), Alexandra Luke ($10,200) and Tom Hodgson ($10,200) all achieving top results. In addition Yves Gaucher set a new record when Deux Bleus – Deux Gris more then tripled its low estimate of $12,000 and sold for $48,000. Lise Gervais was another show stopper with her vibrant canvas Les Jeux Controptiques Opus 3 setting a record price of $21,600.
During the winter Toronto also played host to an impressive array of post-war contemporary art openings. I had the pleasure of attending the Marcelle Ferron: Works on Paper exhibit held at the Ingram Gallery in association with Galerie Simon Blais on Avenue Road and it was spectacular. This intoxicating exhibition of Automatist works had never been exposed to the public as the entire collection originated from the Ferron Estate. The range of works was impressive stretching from the early 1950s to the mid 1990s, and displayed Ferron’s progression from a vibrant and boundless brushstroke to a more controlled and minimalist form of expression.
MARCELLE FERRON, Sans titre, 1981, oil on canvas, 97 x 163 cm (38 x 64 in)
Source: Galerie Simon Blais
Mira Godard Gallery timed their exhibition of Takao Tanabe’s new paintings perfectly with a retrospective of his life’s work at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinberg. Tanabe’s new work was a combination of Prairie landscapes from central Canada and seascapes of the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. One of my favourite works was Island 3/06: Catala Is., a vertical canvas that focused on a solitary island in the Juan de Fuca Strait, alone and at peace. One felt as if they had just reached the beach on a damp evening just before the sun set and while the calm upon the water preceeded the approaching storm rolled in.
Takao Tanabe, Island 3/06: Catala Is, 2006. Acrylic on canvas 48 x 13 inches.
Source: Mira Godard Gallery
As spring aproaches the gallery season will begin to come to an end and the auction sales in May will draw to a close another fantastic 2006/2007 of primary and secondary market sales. In any event I am looking forward to what lies ahead in the coming months before the summer and I believe Canadian Contemporary art will continue to surprise and enthrall.
