The Knave, 1957 by Gordon Rayner

Provenance:
Estate of Robert Noakes

Exhibited:
86th "Annual Exhibition", Ontario Society of Artists, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1958

Literature:
Roald Nasgaard, "Abstract Painting in Canada," Toronto/Vancouver, 2007, page 109

Gordon Rayner’s art practice was notable for its constant reinvention and refusal to commit to a rigid visual mode or ideology of art. Rayner was raised in an exceptionally artistic milieu, but opted against formal art training. His father was a commercial artist and close friends with painter Jack Bush. With his friend and fellow artist Dennis Burton, Rayner attended the first solo exhibition of William Ronald at the University of Toronto’s Hart House in 1954. The show proved pivotal for the young artists. Burton reminisced, “Rayner and I went back to our studio that Sunday and painted our first nonobjective abstract painting and vowed ... never to paint representationally again.”

"The Knave" is comprised of exuberant, painterly gestures which swirl and swoop across the surface. There are rich contrasts in the paint surface, from the glossy black of the background, thick impasto at the centre and delicate washes of blue at the top left. The influence of Ronald is clear in the way the gestural brushwork coalesces into a central image. The anthropomorphic title imbues the abstract image with presence and personality. A highly accomplished work for a young painter, "The Knave" would be exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists in March 1958.