signed with initials lower right; signed on the reverse
5.5 × 6.75 in (14.0 × 17.1 cm)
Auction Estimate:$5,000 - $7,000
Sale date:May 28, 2019
Price Realized
$4,484
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Galerie Valentin, Montreal
Private Collection, Montreal
Literature
Michèle Grandbois, Jean Paul Lemieux: Life and Work [online publication], Art Canada Institute, Toronto, 2016, pages 15, 59-61 and 80
An early example of the artist’s work (painted circa 1933), this panel highlights the importance of the horizon and the simplicity of the landscape Lemieux sought in his practice. Rejecting a naturalism that seeks to replicate nature in a traditional sense, Lemieux favoured simplified forms, more muted palettes and an emphasis on shape and rhythm.
This small sketch features a layered high horizon and wide bands of earthy green pigments colouring the foreground, firmly cementing the viewer in this grassy space. On the importance of the horizon and barren landscape for Lemieux, Michèle Grandbois writes, “His deserted landscapes, most frequently staged in the winter, are charged with feelings of time passing, of death, of the human condition, and of the loneliness and smallness of human beings before the infinite horizons of the vast landscapes of Canada.” The viewer bears witness to the preliminary exploration and experimentation of the simplified aesthetic Lemieux is most celebrated for in this uninhabited space, bringing attention to the formal qualities of the landscape, and ultimately, the artist’s potential.
