Description:

Harold Barling Town, OSA, RCA (1924-1994), Canadian
THE AUTO-DA-FÉ OF DON CARLOS, 1963

oil and Lucite on canvas
signed and dated "63" verso; titled to stretcher verso; also titled and dated to gallery label verso
81 x 74 in — 205.7 x 188 cm

Estimate: $12,000—18,000 CAD

  • Provenance: Ingram Gallery, Toronto, ON
    Private Collection, Toronto, ON
  • Dimensions: 81 x 74 in — 205.7 x 188 cm
  • Artist Name: Harold Barling Town, OSA, RCA (1924-1994)
  • Exhibited: Canada: XXXII Biennale di Venezia: Harold Town and Elza Hayhew, 1964.
  • Literature: Canada: XXXII Biennale di Venezia: Harold Town and Elza Hayhew, 1964 (exhibition catalogue), unpaginated.
  • Medium: oil and Lucite on canvas
  • Notes:

    With a career spanning four decades, and encompassing painting, drawing, sculpture, collage and print-making, Harold Town was the quintessential artist-polymath. Starting as a commercial artist in the 1940s, Town went on to champion Abstract Expressionism as a member of the Painters Eleven in the 50s, and embraced Pop Art and Minimalism in the following decades. By the end of the 1960s, after exhibiting in the Venice Biennial (twice), participating in Documenta, and appearing on the covers of MacLean's and Time, Town was considered Canada's most famous and commercially successful artist.[1]

    The Auto-da-fé of Don Carlos exemplifies Town's early-60s practice, when he began producing larger-format paintings comprised of harder-edged forms situated within open spaces. He also embarked on what would become a vast collection of drawings and paintings depicting significant historical and contemporary cultural figures.

    This painting references Italian composer Guiseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlos (1867), which is based on the brief yet turbulent life of the 16th-century Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias. The painting depicts the characters during the third act when Don Carlos interrupts preparations for an Auto-da-fé (the public burning of heretics) to ask the King and Queen, seated at left, to appoint him ruler of Flanders. (The King rejects the prince's request.) To the right of the central figure of Don Carlos are four condemned heretics in pointed paper hats called capirotes, the forced wearing of which was a form of public humiliation.

    Perhaps Town, an ambitious and flamboyant artist working in conservative 1960s Toronto, identified with Don Carlos and his thwarted desires. Ironically, the year after painting The Auto-da-fé of Don Carlos, Town faced opposition when an Italian cardinal successfully ordered the removal of one of his erotic drawings from the Biennial.[2] "It's such an honour being banned in Italy, the motherland of sensuality," Town said in response to the controversy. "It's a little like being asked to straighten your tie in a bordello."

    [1] Gerta Moray, Harold Town: Life & Work (Toronto: Canadian Art Institute, 2014), 11. Online publication, downloaded 5 Apr 2025: https://www.aci-iac.ca/the-essay/reign-of-the-60s-art-scene-by-gerta-moray/.
    [2] Kevin Griffin, "Harold Town: the most popular artist of his era." Vancouver Sun, 17 Dec 2014. Downloaded April 8, 2025: https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/harold-town-the-most-popular-canadian-artist-of-his-era.

  • Condition: Good overall condition.
    Work was professionally treated March 2025. Report available upon request.

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May 29, 2025 8:00 PM EDT
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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
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CA$200 CA$499 CA$20
CA$500 CA$999 CA$50
CA$1,000 CA$1,999 CA$100
CA$2,000 CA$4,999 CA$200
CA$5,000 CA$9,999 CA$500
CA$10,000 CA$19,999 CA$1,000
CA$20,000 CA$49,999 CA$2,000
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CA$100,000 CA$299,999 CA$10,000
CA$300,000 CA$999,999 CA$25,000
CA$1,000,000 CA$1,999,999 CA$50,000
CA$2,000,000 CA$2,999,999 CA$100,000
CA$3,000,000 CA$4,999,999 CA$200,000
CA$5,000,000 + CA$300,000