signed lower right and titled on the reverse, small area of paint loss at upper right corner
38 × 5.75 in (96.5 × 14.6 cm)
Auction Estimate:$8,000 - $12,000
Sale date:November 22, 2016
Price Realized
$5,980
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Corporate Collection, Montreal
Private Collection, Montreal
“Fire Weed in Winter” is an example of the artist’s early work in abstract painting. The snow covered foliage act as gestural references of the landscape with free brushstrokes and loose forms. The early beginnings of Smith’s career as an artist can be seen in this work as a precursor to the abstract expressionist and hard-edge abstraction that he had explored through the 1960s. The artist later returned to the landscape as his primary focus in painting, but maintained an abstract reference throughout his works.
Gordon Appelbe Smith - Fire Weed in Winter | Cowley Abbott