Additional Images

Provenance:

Waddington Galleries, Toronto
Private Collection, Hamilton, Ontario

Note:

William Perehudoff was already an established abstractionist from the beginning of his career, however it was after attending the summer artists’ workshops at Emma Lake, Saskatchewan that he refined his practice. The relationships borne in these workshops impacted Perehudoff, the most influential of which included Herman Cherry, Jules Olitsky, Kenneth Noland, and Clement Greenberg.

AC-78-54 continues his large-scale experiments with colour and texture, producing a shimmer of blue and purple that wavers across the canvas. The bottom edge is blurred, emphasising the thin wash of colour, and a pinkish glow radiates from behind the translucent stains of pigment. This striated haze is bordered on one side by thicker, solid stripes that emphasise the verticality of the work. These offer a tenuous balance: the softer violets and beryl-blues in the central field are echoed by coral, red and indigo, but also off-set by bands of black and green that float above the surface. Solid colour is literally side lined, while a softer, fuller treatment of form expands to encompass the ground. The canvas blooms with lush energy.