signed and dated 1973 lower right; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
22 × 28 in (55.9 × 71.1 cm)
Auction Estimate:$9,000 - $12,000
Sale date:December 3, 2020
Price Realized
$19,200
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
The Fine Art Galleries, T. Eaton Co., Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Private Collection, Burlington, Ontario
Literature
Robert Budd, Introduction to “Ted Harrison Collected”, Madeira Park, British Columbia, 2015, pages 10-11
A rare nocturnal scene, “Yukon Priest” portrays all of the elements of the North which Ted Harrison was most fond. A lyrical landscape peppered with children, dogs and birds, the work has been executed in the artist’s signature technicolour palette of bright, flat colours which emphasize the joy and energy of the locale and its community. As Robert Budd remarked: “Ted clearly savoured his relationships with people, so it’s remarkable that the people in his art don’t have faces...In fact, Ted’s blank faces were intentional. He said that he used the same characters over and over again in the prints, and they came from his imagination.” Harrison explained, “I treat the people the same as the landscape. They’re natural because they’re in a landscape that they feel a part of...but I like to feel that people imagine a face in.” Viewers are encouraged to use their own experiences and relationships with others to place familiar faces in the works of the artist, making each work personal to the viewer.
