signed and dated 1982 on the reverse; titled on a label on the stretcher
70 × 60 in (177.8 × 152.4 cm)
Auction Estimate:$10,000 - $15,000
Sale date:November 20, 2018
Price Realized
$10,620
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
The Collection of TransCanada PipeLines Limited, Calgary
Literature
George Moppett and Norman Zepp, Otto Rogers: A Survey 1973-1982, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, 1982, pages 4-8
Growing up in Saskatchewan, Rogers was greatly influenced by the prairie landscape and the long walks that he often took in solitude. Horizon lines greatly impacted the artist not only as the ever-receding line where the sky meets the earth, but as a point of metaphysical exploration in his works. The horizon operates as the meeting point of two natural and universal elements in the environment; but effectively represents nothingness.
In a moody execution of charcoal greys, punctuated with pops of ultramarine blue, “City of the Heart” envelops the viewer in heavy darkness. Thicker texture of the image plane gives dimension to the work and evolves from the artist's traditional fine layered works. Perhaps slightly more domineering, the piece operates much like other abstract expressionist works, where the importance of the work is the subjective feelings of the viewer upon bearing witness to the artwork.
