Woman and Tapestry Pattern (Patsy Milne) by David Brown Milne
David Milne
Woman and Tapestry Pattern (Patsy Milne)
oil on canvas
Milne catalogue raisonné no. 105.60
18 x 20 ins ( 45.7 x 50.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $250,000.00 - $350,000.00
Price Realized $264,000.00
Sale date: December 6th 2023
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, 1979 ]
Kenneth G. Heffel Fine Art, Vancouver, 1979
Private Collection, British Columbia
Galerie Royale, Vancouver, 1979
Private Collection
Masters Gallery, Calgary, 1986
Private Collection, Edmonton, 1986
Masters Gallery, Calgary, 1987
Private Collection
“David Milne, the New York Period: 1911–1915”, Malborough Godard Gallery, Toronto, 16 November–9 December 1972, no. 27
“David Milne: A Survey Exhibition”, Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, 4–28 November 1978, no. 5
[David Milne Paintings], Masters Gallery, Calgary, 4–7 December 1996
“Sight and Site: Location and the work of David B. Milne”, The Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary, 8 August–2 November 1997 as “Woman and Tapestry Pattern”
“David Milne, The New York Period: 1911-1915”, Toronto, 1972, no. 27, unpaginated, reproduced
“David Milne: A Survey Exhibition”, Toronto, 1978, no. 5, unpaginated, reproduced
Galerie Royale, Montreal, October 1979, reproduced page 4
David Milne Jr. and David P. Silcox, “David B. Milne: Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Volume 1: 1882–1928”‚ Toronto, 1998, listed and reproduced page 114, no. 105.60
Sarah Milroy and Ian A.C. Dejardin, “David Milne, Modern Painting”, London, 2018, page 20–21
Working through the influence of Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard and Eduard Vuillard, Milne created several paintings of interiors featuring his wife Patsy in 1914. “Woman and Tapestry Pattern” is a highly experimental painting for its time. Milne turned away from conventional descriptions of form using light and shade, and rather boldly flattened the image with thick black outlines. The work features Milne’s trademark reductive palette of only a few colours. Here the painter’s interest is focused on the intricate patterns of the decorative tapestry in the background, rather than on an interpretation of the sitter’s inner life. Patsy’s face is portrayed with only a few economical strokes. Her dress is described with a flat expanse of earthy raw umber, striking a visual contrast with the intricate background. The richly layered surface of the painting suggests Milne explored a number of different options before settling on a composition, or perhaps even painted this work on top of an entirely different image.
Describing Milne’s interior paintings from the period, Ian Dejardin observed; “Milne uses a very limited palette... in a series of pictures like this, many of them also strongly reminiscent of Vuillard, most particularly when Milne chooses to focus on complicated pattern and detail surrounding and encompassing a figure. In these interiors, he makes the eye work to discern the figurative matter–it is usually Patsy–emerging from the patchwork of colour values in a sophisticated deconstruction of the act of seeing.”
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David Brown Milne
(1881 - 1953) Canadian Group of Painters
Milne was born near Paisley, Ontario. A childhood interest in art, which revived while he was teaching, led him to take a correspondence course and eventually he travelled to New York City to continue his studies. This was somewhat of an exception in the early twentieth-century Canadian art scene as the majority of artists went to Europe to study. While in New York City, Milne worked as a commercial illustrator for several years before deciding to give up this work and devote his time to painting. Shortly after making this decision he moved to Boston Corners in New York.
Throughout his life Milne sought the peace and solitude of a rural life. In his paintings, Milne explored different viewpoints. He greatly admired the work of Tom Thomson but had little interest in the nationalistic approach of the Group of Seven. His themes range from landscapes to views of towns and cities, still lifes and imaginary subjects. His experiments with different media and changing viewpoints show his interest in the process of painting itself. In 1929, Milne returned to settle permanently in Canada, stopping for brief periods in Temagami, Weston, and Palgrave. He built a secluded cabin at Six Mile Lake, north of Orillia, and spent the next six years painting, for the most part, alone. Milne was interested in 'pure' painting, in "adventures in shape, colour, texture and space" as he called his watercolours of the 1930s and 1940s. The change from the less vibrant drybrush "adventures" to the fantasy watercolours is often attributed to the birth of his only child, David Jr., born to Milne's second wife when Milne was sixty. His young son encouraged him to adopt a new, vibrant and often whimsical approach to his art. Milne spent the rest of his life in Uxbridge, north of Toronto, exploring the Haliburton and Bancroft areas as well as the city of Toronto.