Artwork by Ronald Langley Bloore,  White Sun-Green Rim, 1960

Ron Bloore
White Sun-Green Rim, 1960

oil on board
48 x 48 in ( 121.9 x 121.9 cm )

Auction Estimate: $15,000.00$10,000.00 - $15,000.00

Price Realized $8,400.00
Sale date: May 30th 2024

Provenance:
Here and Now Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario
Exhibited:
"VI Biennial", Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo, Brazil, September-December 1961, no. 5 as "White Sun", 1961
"Ron Bloore", Here and Now Gallery, Toronto, 1-19 March 1962
"Canadian Painting", The Tate Gallery, London, England, 1964
"R.L. Bloore-Sixteen Years: 1958-1974", London Art Gallery; travelling to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal; the Winnipeg Art Gallery; the Vancouver Art Gallery; the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina and the Art Gallery of Windsor, 3 February-23 November 1975, no. 12
"The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada: The 1950’s", Musée du Quebec; travelling to National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina; Glenbow Museum, Calgary and Art Gallery of Hamilton, 18 November 1992-30 January 1994, no. 13 as "White Sun- Green Rim", 1960
Literature:
"VI Biennial", Brazil, 1961, no. 5, listed page 150 as "White Sun", 1961
Ted Fraser, R.L. "Bloore-Sixteen Years: 1958-1974", Windsor, 1975, no. 12, unpaginated, reproduced as "White Sun-Green Rim"
Denise Leclerc, "The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada: The 1950s", Ottawa, 1992, no. 13, reproduced page 91
In 1958, Ronald Bloore, then the director of the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery) in Regina, brought national and international exhibitions to Regina. He and four other abstract painters, Kenneth Lochhead, Arthur McKay, Douglas Morton and Ted Godwin shared a common professional commitment and became a small but active artistic community in Regina. Having studied throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe before moving to Regina, the artists combined the major currents of abstract expressionism in the context of 1950s Saskatchewan. Their bold, non-figurative paintings represented a new direction in abstract painting in Western Canada and reflected the influx of advanced ideas discussed in the annual Emma Lake Artists' Workshops, especially the workshop held by Barnett Newman in 1959.

The painters drew national attention when Bloore organized "The May Show"; in 1960, featuring the five prominent abstract artists and architectural drawings and models by architect Clifford Wiens, along with sculptures by Wolfram Niessen, to coincide with the meeting of the Canadian Museums Association. The exhibition inspired Richard B. Simmins, Coordinator of Extension Services at the National Gallery of Canada, to select the work of the five painters for a travelling exhibition titled "Five Painters" from Regina that appeared in 1961 in Ottawa. Simmins' essay in the exhibition catalogue stressed the importance of Emma Lake Workshops and of Ron Bloore, who acted as a catalyst. Simmins wrote that Bloore brought to Regina a set of values which challenged the other painters. Bloore painted "White Sun-Green Rim" in 1960, when he was in the spotlight and during the height of the anticipation of the exhibition of the group who would become known as “The Regina Five”. Perhaps as a result of this increased attention, this painting was extensively exhibited in Canada and abroad as soon as it was completed, going to the VI Biennial in São Paulo in the fall of 1961, the National Gallery of Canada in 1962, and the "Canadian Painting" show at the Tate Gallery in London, England in 1964.

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Ronald Langley Bloore
(1925 - 2009) Regina Five, Order of Canada

Born in Brampton, Ontario, Ronald Bloore is known for his monochromatic paintings and his association with the Regina Five. He attended the University of Toronto and the Institute of Fine Arts in New York City where he studied both art history and archaeology. Bloore then went on to earn a Master of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After studying at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, he began teaching archeology courses there, and later at Washington University as well as the University of Toronto. Bloore’s background in and appreciation of cultural history was a fundamental influence throughout his entire artistic career. Bloore opposed modernist traditions valuing Western art above and was personally interested in global art and incorporated this into his oeuvre.

Bloore worked alongside his fellow members of Regina Five but differed in approach - preferring to complete works in a series and executed his paintings with deliberate brush strokes. He often worked using only one or two colors, which were sometimes built up into impasto formations. Bloore’s early paintings were mostly white and all-over abstractions. However, these abstract patterns morphed into circles, solar crosses, and wheels that could be read as images with symbolic meaning later in his career. Bloore used, at times, up to twenty-six varieties of white in his paintings. Created by adding shadows and values of creams and grays Bloore would add textures through impasto to further create highlights and shadows.

Returning back to Canada after spending a year traveling in Greece, Turkey, and Egypt, Bloore became interested in painting all-white images in a raised relief. As illustrated in “Painting No. 1” (1964), Bloore was preoccupied with forming white symmetrical patterns comprised of white squares and rectangles, possibly mimicking Egyptian relief hieroglyphs and Roman decorative sarcophagus fronts. If not inspired by hieroglyphs or sarcophagi, Bloore’s work could have gained inspiration from American artist Alfred Jensen who painted colorful calligraphic paintings. Regardless, these white patterned paintings allowed Bloore to reflect on his experiences at Karnak, Luxor, and the Hagia Sophia. He was interested in the sacredness of the art which unites humankind through time and conveyed this through his abstract calligraphy and inclusion of symbols in his paintings.

Literature Source:
Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada. Vancouver, Douglas and McIntyre, 2008

We extend our thanks to Danie Klein, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.