Description:

Jean Albert McEwen (1923-1999), Canadian
CYCLADES No. 1, 1963
oil on canvas
signed and dated "October 63" verso; titled and dated to gallery label verso

Estimate: $70,000—90,000 CAD

  • Provenance:

    Gallery Moos Ltd., Toronto, ON
    Private Collection, Ontario

  • Dimensions: 50 x 50 in — 127 x 127 cm
  • Medium: oil on canvas
  • Notes:

    Jean McEwen’s career was in full flight when he painted Cyclades #1 in October of 1963. Fourteen years earlier, his talent had been recognized when he first exhibited in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Annual Spring Exhibition. A juror suggested he speak with Paul-Émile Borduas. McEwen did, and in late 1951 McEwen went to France for a year where he met Jean Paul Riopelle, the American painter Sam Francis, and had his first extensive first-hand engagement with modern masters, including Claude Monet.

    McEwen returned to Montreal with heightened commitment, and in 1955 began to manipulate the paint with his hands instead of a palette knife. In April 1961, Walter Moos gave him his first solo exhibition in Toronto and the Toronto Daily Star’s Robert Fulford raved about the complexity, colouring, and handling of McEwen’s paintings.[1]

    Cyclades #1 was painted following a trip to Greece in the fall of 1963. At least three other Cyclades works exist, all with the same dimensions, and this painting is the first to appear at auction in more than two decades. First-hand viewings of McEwen’s paintings of this period are essential. Like Monet, McEwen deliberately painted a textured ground for visual interest. McEwen also used reds, yellows and browns layered in loose geometric forms to create the painting’s cruciform composition. Reds and browns applied over the textured ground are variously glossy and thin, suggesting an indeterminate depth. Atop them McEwen applied matte yellow that hovers over the surface in the top left and top right areas of the canvas. Finally, a glaze of Van Dyke brown in the centre, from bottom to top, enriches the reds below it and ignites the yellows flanking it. Like Monet’s transcendental scenes of pond reflections, Cyclades #1 gently eases the viewer into contemplation and pleasure.

    This essay was contributed by Greg Humeniuk. Humeniuk is an art historian, consultant, writer. and curator based in Toronto.

    [1] Robert Fulford, “World of Art,” Toronto Daily Star (15 April 1961), 30.

  • Condition: Very good overall condition.

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November 28, 2024 8:00 PM EST
Toronto, ON, CA

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
CA$0 CA$199 CA$10
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
CA$50,000 CA$99,999 CA$5,000
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