Joyner Canadian Fine Art Auction

November 26, 2012

LOT 82

Lot 82

MAURICE GALBRAITH CULLEN, R.C.A.

MAURICE GALBRAITH CULLEN, R.C.A.
Lot 82 Details
MAURICE GALBRAITH CULLEN, R.C.A.

EARLY MARCH ON THE CACHE RIVER

pastel
signed, Cullen Inventory No.1584
30 ins x 40 ins; 75 cms x 100 cms

Estimate $25,000-$30,000

Realised: $23,600
Price Includes Buyer's Premium ?

Lot Report

Provenance:

Watson Art Galleries, Montreal.

Literature:

William R. Watson, “Retrospective: Recollections of a Montreal Art Dealer”, Toronto, 1974, chapter 4 (Maurice Cullen), pages 30-39.

Sylvia Antoniou, “Maurice Cullen”, Kingston, 1982.

Exhibited:

11th Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Pastels by Maurice Cullen, RCA, Watson Art Galleries, Montreal, 14-24 January, 1933 (as “The Cache River in Early March”).

Note:

Cullen and William Watson, the art dealer, developed a rather special relationship combining friendship and business. Watson’s support and promotion of the artist’s Laurentian landscapes played an important role in Cullen’s career. Cullen often confessed his pleasure in the flexibility of pastels and, as Watson writes, he explored the wide subtleties of tone attainable only in this medium.

It is probably in his depictions of the Laurentians that Cullen achieved his greatest success. Watson points out that the artist made a long and special study of ice formation and ice colour: “There is the steel-blue of mid-winter ice…Cullen loved the joyous flashes of sunlight, the glow of snow, the gleam of ice, the tumult of the freed river in the springtime…He taught us to see beauty where we had only thought of cold.”

CONDITION DETAILS

For condition information please contact the specialist.

LOT 82
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About Condition Ratings

  • 5 Stars: Excellent - No discernable damage, flaws or imperfections
  • 4 Stars: Very Good - Minor flaws or imperfections visible only under close inspection using specialised instruments or black light
  • 3 Stars: Good - Minor flaws visible upon inspection under standard lighting
  • 2 Stars: Fair - Exhibits flaws or damage that may draw the eye under standard lighting
  • 1 Star: Poor - Flaws or damage immediately apparent under standard lighting (examples: missing components, rips, broken glass, damaged surfaces, etc.)

Note: Condition ratings and condition details are the subjective opinions of our specialists and should be used as a guide only. Waddington’s uses due care when preparing condition details, however, our staff are not professional restorers or conservators. Condition details and reports are not warranties and each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the buyer’s terms and conditions of sale. In all cases the prospective purchaser is responsible for inspecting the property themselves prior to placing a bid.