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104 THOMAS SHERLOCK HODGSON WHEELBARROW watercolour on illustration board signed and dated /52 25 ins x 32 ins; 63.5 cms x 81.3 cms Provenance: Private Collection, Toronto Exhibited: Canadian Abstract Painters, Oshawa Art Society, 1952 (organized by Alexandra Luke). Literature: Iris Nowell, Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art, Douglas & McIntyre, Toronto, 2010, page 1. David G. Taylor, Tom Hodgson, catalogue, Lynnwood Arts Centre, Simcoe, Ontario, 1988, illustrated, fig. 5, page 13 alongside a black and white photograph from the artist’s collection, Wheelbarrow, 1952. Note: In 1952, the year in which this work was painted, Hodgson earned a berth on the Canadian Olympic Canoe Team for the games in Helsinki. It was also the year in which the artist sold his first painting – a gouache exhibited in the eighteenth O.S.A. exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto. Alluding to the works of Willem de Kooning, Hodgson’s compositions meld abstract, architectural forms with his distinctive use of colour. The forms within this watercolour modulate and move. David Taylor writes, “In 1951-1952, Hodgson’s painting changed in style. Instead of painting pure abstracts, he turned his attention to depicting natural subjects... He would first take a photograph and then make a painting (based on the snap-shot), distorting the original object. An example of this technique is Hodgson’s watercolour Wheelbarrow... Within those familiar shapes he has distorted almost everything... The composition becomes more complex, thus providing more interest for the eye.” $5,000–7,000
105 DENNIS EUGENE NORMAN BURTON RELEVANCE oil on canvas signed and dated “12.16.62”; also signed, titled and dated again “12.16.62” on the reverse 40 ins x 36 ins; 101.6 cms x 91.4 cms Literature: Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto, 2007, page 231. Note: Coined by Roald Nasgaard as one of the “Second Generation” of Toronto abstract painters, Dennis Burton was stylistically encouraged by his teacher at the Ontario College of Art, Jock MacDonald. Painted in 1962, Relevance hints at the Pop-inspired turn that Burton’s painting would take in the years to follow. $5,000–7,000
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