5
Louis Belzile, Composition, 1958
Estimate:
CA$15,000 - CA$20,000
Sold
CA$18,000
Timed Auction
BYDealers - Historical and Post-War Canadian Art / Art canadien historique et d’après-guerre
ARTIST
Louis Belzile
Size
45,7 x 61 cm / 18 x 24 in
Description
Œuvre phare du peintre Louis Belzile, signataire du Manifeste des Plasticiens (1955), Composition s’inscrit dans un corpus de tableaux à variation géométrique réalisés vers la fin des années 1950. Dans ce tableau, Belzile manie avec finesse et assurance la grille néoplasticienne, divisée, facettée et ordonnancée selon une architecture précise, mais subtilement asymétrique, afin de créer un effet de push and pull dans l’espace optique. Les contours y sont assumés sans être rigides, laissant voir les gestes du peintre, qui applique habilement les empâtements à la spatule. Les gris colorés et les tons rompus organisent l’espace pictural, qui réfracte l’ombre et la lumière dans un jeu labyrinthique. Le cercle, divisé en deux demi-tons de gris, domine le plan pictural supérieur. Il se reflète dans un magnifique dégradé monochrome qui suggère au passage un coucher de soleil sur la mer. Seul point de tension curviligne de l’œuvre, le motif circulaire est par ailleurs récurrent dans ce corpus très recherché. Le Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec possède une étonnante collection issue de cette période marquante, pour ne pas dire historique, du peintre rimouskois.
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A flagship work by painter Louis Belzile, co-signatory of the Manifeste des Plasticiens (1955), Composition is part of a group of geometric variations painted in the late 1950s. In this painting, Belzile handles the neo-Plasticien grid with confidence and finesse, dividing, cutting, and ordering a precise though subtly asymmetric structure in order to create a push-and-pull effect in the optical space. The outlines are distinct, though not rigid, with paint skilfully applied by a palette knife, revealing Belzile’s gesturality. The pictorial space is structured by coloured greys and broken hues in a labyrinthine refraction of shadow and light. The circle, divided into two half tones of grey, dominates the upper pictorial space. It is magnificently reflected in a monochrome gradient that suggests a sunset on the sea. The lone curvilinear point of tension in the work, the circular motif recurs throughout this highly prized body of work. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec possesses an impressive collection from this significant, even historic period in the work of the painter from Rimouski.
//
A flagship work by painter Louis Belzile, co-signatory of the Manifeste des Plasticiens (1955), Composition is part of a group of geometric variations painted in the late 1950s. In this painting, Belzile handles the neo-Plasticien grid with confidence and finesse, dividing, cutting, and ordering a precise though subtly asymmetric structure in order to create a push-and-pull effect in the optical space. The outlines are distinct, though not rigid, with paint skilfully applied by a palette knife, revealing Belzile’s gesturality. The pictorial space is structured by coloured greys and broken hues in a labyrinthine refraction of shadow and light. The circle, divided into two half tones of grey, dominates the upper pictorial space. It is magnificently reflected in a monochrome gradient that suggests a sunset on the sea. The lone curvilinear point of tension in the work, the circular motif recurs throughout this highly prized body of work. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec possesses an impressive collection from this significant, even historic period in the work of the painter from Rimouski.
Medium
Huile sur panneau de fibre de bois / Oil on fiberboard
Signature
signée et datée au bas à gauche; signée au dos / signed and dated lower left; signed verso
Provenance
Waddington & Gorce Inc., Montréal
Collection particulière / Private collection, Toronto
Collection particulière / Private collection, Toronto