signed and dated 1958 lower right; signed, titled and dated 1958 on the reverse; titled on the stretcher
22 × 30 in (55.9 × 76.2 cm)
Auction Estimate:$10,000 - $15,000
Sale date:June 15, 2022
Price Realized
$8,400
(including Buyer's Premium)
Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto
A major shift in Marcella Maltais’s career occurred in 1955, when she moved from Quebec City to Montreal, encountering the Automatistes and other avant-garde artists, including Guido Molinari, Claude Tousignant, Marcelle Ferron and Rita Letendre. Her paintings, such as “Ciel brisé”, began to show the influence of these painters. The black palette knife strokes and organic abstract forms recall the heavy gestural works of Ferron and Letendre, and the vibrant complementary colour palette of Les Plasticiens. Maltais visited Paris for the first time in 1958, the year “Ciel brisé” was completed, spending her time painting and further enriching her artistic knowledge. Maltais quickly became recognized as one of the most talented young painters in Quebec of the period, a reputation she has maintained to this day.
