Arctic Icebergs
30.5 cms x 38.1 cms (12 ins x 15 ins)
Signed (visible under uv light) and artist's thumbprint and on verso stamped national gallery of canada varley inventory #1114
made in 1114
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "Fine Canadian Art Spring 2005 Live auction" held on Wed, May 25, 2005.
Lot 042
Lot 042
Estimate: CAD $60,000 - $80,000
Realised: CAD $138,000
Realised: CAD $138,000
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
The Art Gallery of Toronto, Womens Committee Picture Sale, 1949
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
F.H. Varley, A Centennial Exhibition, The Edmonton Art Gallery, 1981, pages 138 and 140
Notes:
Frederick Varley, following in the footsteps of A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris, made one trip to the Arctic in 1938. He traveled north on the RMS Nascopie from Montreal and, in the summer of 1938, produced some striking images of the north. Some of his best sketches are marked by a remarkable audacity in their form and execution, equal to but quite distinct from the arctic sketches of Harris. Arctic Icebergs, which might more accurately be described as an icebergscape, is a vivid and splendid example of Varley at his best. Varley was particularly struck by the icebergs and wrote to a friend, "the icebergs - literally hundreds of them, floating sphinxes - pyramids - mountain peaks with castles on them - draw-bridges & crevasses, huge cathedrals - coral forms magnified a thousand fold." He was equally struck by the strange colours of the icebergs, commenting on the "blue greens & the violets" and even the "mauve & the sea deep purple and red." This panel is one of the most vivid oil sketches produced on the trip. The work is striking for both the use of colour - a startlingly blue-green which predominates, and for the dramatic composition. At the right of the image, one of the "coral forms magnified" provides a strong vertical that seems to infringe on the viewer's space. This device immediately establishes the spatial field of the work itself, the turbulent expanse of water, which is handled in broad, painterly strokes and the iceberg and mountains in the background. The emphatic horizontal in the sky, together with the vertical iceberg at the right, serve as framing elements for the composition. It is a compelling and forceful image and suggests both the danger and power of the icebergs that Varley and his shipmates encountered. The choice of colour conveys the frigid atmosphere brilliantly and immediately. We are present in a landscape that is both strangely beautiful and exhilaratingly dangerous.
The Art Gallery of Toronto, Womens Committee Picture Sale, 1949
By descent to the present Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
F.H. Varley, A Centennial Exhibition, The Edmonton Art Gallery, 1981, pages 138 and 140
Notes:
Frederick Varley, following in the footsteps of A.Y. Jackson and Lawren Harris, made one trip to the Arctic in 1938. He traveled north on the RMS Nascopie from Montreal and, in the summer of 1938, produced some striking images of the north. Some of his best sketches are marked by a remarkable audacity in their form and execution, equal to but quite distinct from the arctic sketches of Harris. Arctic Icebergs, which might more accurately be described as an icebergscape, is a vivid and splendid example of Varley at his best. Varley was particularly struck by the icebergs and wrote to a friend, "the icebergs - literally hundreds of them, floating sphinxes - pyramids - mountain peaks with castles on them - draw-bridges & crevasses, huge cathedrals - coral forms magnified a thousand fold." He was equally struck by the strange colours of the icebergs, commenting on the "blue greens & the violets" and even the "mauve & the sea deep purple and red." This panel is one of the most vivid oil sketches produced on the trip. The work is striking for both the use of colour - a startlingly blue-green which predominates, and for the dramatic composition. At the right of the image, one of the "coral forms magnified" provides a strong vertical that seems to infringe on the viewer's space. This device immediately establishes the spatial field of the work itself, the turbulent expanse of water, which is handled in broad, painterly strokes and the iceberg and mountains in the background. The emphatic horizontal in the sky, together with the vertical iceberg at the right, serve as framing elements for the composition. It is a compelling and forceful image and suggests both the danger and power of the icebergs that Varley and his shipmates encountered. The choice of colour conveys the frigid atmosphere brilliantly and immediately. We are present in a landscape that is both strangely beautiful and exhilaratingly dangerous.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.