Primary Fruit
55.9 cms x 65.4 cms (22 ins x 25.75 ins)
Signed and dated 1983 and on verso titled and dated on the gallery label
made in 1983
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "Fall 2010 Live auction" held on Thu, Nov 25, 2010.
Lot 002
Lot 002
Estimate: CAD $30,000 - $50,000
Realised: CAD $35,100
Realised: CAD $35,100
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Vancouver
Notes:
Mary Pratt is one of Canada's finest realist painters, noted for her sensitive use of light and depiction of domestic tableaux which arise from the everyday, yet transform into the sublime. Still life is one of the subjects in her body of work that she has continuously returned to, and Primary Fruit is a superb work from this genre. In this fine painting, the fruit is luscious and perfect, symbolic of abundance and the continuity of life. Pratt has arrayed it enticingly on a ceramic plate, with a simplified textural backdrop of grass, emphasizing the objects and the sunlight which reveals every detail, then gleams back in reflections from their surfaces. To capture the ephemeral effects of light, Pratt began taking photographs of her staged still lifes in 1969. In her awareness of how light activates objects lies a contemporary link to the incomparable light-washed interiors of the Dutch 17th century master Johannes Vermeer. Pratt, in her exquisite rendering of surfaces and highly realistic examination of objects, leads us to an experience of something beyond, an experience of beauty and perfection that creates an aesthetic gestalt.
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Vancouver
Notes:
Mary Pratt is one of Canada's finest realist painters, noted for her sensitive use of light and depiction of domestic tableaux which arise from the everyday, yet transform into the sublime. Still life is one of the subjects in her body of work that she has continuously returned to, and Primary Fruit is a superb work from this genre. In this fine painting, the fruit is luscious and perfect, symbolic of abundance and the continuity of life. Pratt has arrayed it enticingly on a ceramic plate, with a simplified textural backdrop of grass, emphasizing the objects and the sunlight which reveals every detail, then gleams back in reflections from their surfaces. To capture the ephemeral effects of light, Pratt began taking photographs of her staged still lifes in 1969. In her awareness of how light activates objects lies a contemporary link to the incomparable light-washed interiors of the Dutch 17th century master Johannes Vermeer. Pratt, in her exquisite rendering of surfaces and highly realistic examination of objects, leads us to an experience of something beyond, an experience of beauty and perfection that creates an aesthetic gestalt.
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.