A playful abstract work, Marian Dale Scott references her affinity for abstracted figural works like her “Facade” series in “Abstraction” (1948). Completed the same year the artist was the president of the Contemporary Arts Society of Montreal as well as the same year Refus global was published, the viewer can see the beginnings of nonconformist abstraction in this composition. Influenced by her colleague, Paul-Émile Borduas, the limited black and white colour palette accentuates the graphic line work which references figural studies, without being overtly figural. Later developing her oeuvre to non-representational abstraction rooted in the Automatiste principles, this artwork gives nod to the artist's process and growth in a tumultuous period of art in Canada. Both playful and subversive, “Abstraction” is an interesting example of not only abstract painting within Quebec and Canada, but also the role of women artists in a field dominated by their male counterparts.
