Terrible & Sublime

Collection of the Artist Albert White Galleries, Toronto Yellow Door Gallery, Winnipeg Acquired by the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1970

"Development of Canadian Art", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 13 March-14 June 1976 "Stored Secrets, The Sequel: The Vault on View", Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2 December 1995-15 September 1996

Ivan Eyre’s art was inspired by the Symbolist philosophy of following subjective recollection and reaction rather than the Realist-Impressionist technique of observation-based painting. “Terrible & Sublime” bears similarities to the dream imagery that inspired the Surrealists. The central part of the painting shows a group of figures, drawn in a distorted and cubist style. They are wearing suits and hats, their faces expressionless or abstracted, blending into the surrounding shapes. The figures and objects are fragmented, positioned in varying orientations that seem to float within the yellow space, giving a dreamlike quality to the work. The monochromatic palette, dominated by various shades of yellow, sometimes with decorative polka-dots, creates a quilt-like appearance, and gives the painting a warm, yet unsettling feeling. The bold use of color and fragmented forms invites the viewer to interpret the scene in a highly personal way, evoking both confusion and fascination.