Additional Images

Provenance:

Gallery Moos Limited, Toronto, ON;
Marlborough-Godard Gallery, Toronto, ON;
Private Collection, Guelph, ON

Note:

Rouge, Mon Amour emblematizes McEwen in the 1960s at the height of his powers, presenting the classic composition that would dominate much of his work after his return from Paris: a strong vertical axis, reverberating and refracting throughout the layered surface of McEwen’s paintings. In 1955, he had begun painting using his fingertips along with palette knives and brushes, the combination of which created textures unique to the artist and to the trajectory of Canadian art. By varying the opacity and transparency of the paint he used, he could “trap light” and create the luminous surfaces for which he is best known.

McEwen’s interest in colour theory and how it relates to space is on full display in this composition. The artist was a deft colourist, and in Rouge, Mon Amour he juxtaposes the analogous colours of red and purple. Analogous colours, which refers to any two colours which sit next to each other on the colour wheel, help to create a sense of harmony and cohesion. For a composition dominated by red, that most fiery shade, McEwen manages to create a work that glows rather than burns.