Lot 30
John McEwen
Lot 30 Details
John McEwen
SOLID STATE, 2008
solid brass plate, cast bronze shell, steel wolf,
5" x 5" x 3"
5 x 5 x 3 in — 12.7 x 12.7 x 7.6 cm
Estimate $1,575-$2,100
Sold For:
$1,050
Buyer’s Premium and Taxes are excluded from Benefit Auctions
Provenance:
Courtesy of the artist and Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto
Note:
Born in 1945, John McEwen is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and one of the founding members of the Toronto artist-run centre, A Space. In 1972, McEwen left the burgeoning Toronto art scene to work for a country veterinarian. Within a year, he had purchased a blacksmith shop in the small town of Hillsdale, which he operated as such for several years. These two experiences were instrumental to his return to a sculpture practice in 1977.
His first major public commission Western Channel was completed for the University of Lethbridge in 1981. In 1984, he was commissioned to design the Royal Canadian Air Force Hall of Tribute located in the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa. Some twenty more public works of sculpture have since followed. In 1980, he began alternating his public work with solo exhibitions. In 2007, he received a Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Lethbridge and in 2019, he received the Order of Canada. The work donated to the C 40th Anniversary auction is from an ongoing series of small prototypes and models.