Posts By: Cowley Abbott

William Kurelek was one of Canada’s most idiosyncratic artists of the twentieth century. His work remains both critically acclaimed and popular, although Kurelek resisted ideas of artistic exceptionalism and genius. “The Isaacs Gallery Workshop” is a 1973 ink drawing, once owned by gallerist Avrom Isaacs, that is now in the permanent collection of The Art… Read more »

There are many fantastic paintings by Franklin Carmichael included in the permanent collection of the AGO. “Study of Trees, Autumn” by Carmichael relates to these prime period signature works, executed with a pageantry of autumn colours. This Carmichael painting has a wonderful exhibition history and impeccable provenance. Learn more with Peter in this short video…. Read more »

Guido Molinari, a leader in Quebec abstraction, was a major contributor to post-Abstract Expressionism and post-Automatisme with his Stripe Paintings. Série noir/blanc is a “stop-you-in-your-tracks stunner” of a painting. Originally in the collection of the artist’s family, then sold in New York and now being offered by a major collector, this monumental acrylic on canvas… Read more »

Peter popped across the road recently to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario and take a closer look at the Cornelius Krieghoff interior scenes within their permanent collection. These paintings share many similarities in terms of subject matter, rich detail and narrative tone to “French Canadian Habitants Playing at Cards”, the important canvas included in… Read more »

One of the artworks I admire in the Spring Live Auction is Bertram Brooker’’s “Still Life (Variation No. 3)“. This work was one of two still-life paintings by Brooker included in the 1938 CNE exhibition in the “Canadian Small Pictures” section. Brooker’s “Variation No. 3” appears to be an abstract version of the second painting, which depicted an arrangement… Read more »

I am drawn in by Riopelle’s thick paint application that creates a tactile surface, tempting the viewer (me) to touch it!  The palette knife strokes are a mix of order and spontaneity. “Polyvalencia” dates to a key period in the artist’s life – just as he was moving away from his structured “mosaic” compositions to… Read more »

Working with both Canadian and International Art I’m always intrigued by the unspoken dialogue that can occur in work by artists of different nationalities who unlikely had any contact. I was instantly drawn to the dynamic work by Jack Bush, Angry Man and saw the many similarities it has with Edouardo Kingman’s painting Figura, which will be offered… Read more »

Cowley Abbott’s Spring Live Auction of Important Canadian Art presents an impressive selection of historical, post-war and contemporary works by renowned Canadian artists. The catalogue offers a variety of landscapes depicting the range of Canadian terrain across the nation, from the Pacific to Atlantic and Arctic Coasts. Many of Canada’s most iconic landmarks and destinations… Read more »

This is one of the works in our Spring Live Auction that just keeps drawing my attention back in for another close look. Carmichael’s mastery of the medium is on full display here. The surface buzzes with autumn colours and the paint handling is both sensitive and confident. The best of the Group sketches have… Read more »

This won’t come as a surprise to you, but I see a lot of art. The special works I experience stay with me and the very special works are revisited in my memory time and time again. Pegi Nicol MacLeod’s A Descent of Lilies in the National Gallery of Canada collection is one of those… Read more »