Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art: Six Highlights

Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art Auction: Six Highlights Selected by Our Specialists

Waddington’s Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art auction, online until March 27, features a number of works by exceptional artists. Our specialists have selected six highlights from the auction to help you explore in greater detail.

We invite you to browse the full gallery to see more pieces by renowned artists such as Illingworth Holey Kerr, John Geoffrey Caruthers, Sorel Etrog, André Kertész, Eadweard Muybridge, Jerry Uelsmann, Roy De Forest, Yves Gaucher, and Lindee Climo.

ARNOLD NEWMAN – WILLEM DE KOONING, NEW YORK CITY, 1959

Arnold Newman (1918-2006), one of the most influential and acclaimed photographers of the 20th century, spent decades capturing major cultural figures, including some of the most important artists, scholars, and political figures of the post-World War II era.

Newman’s approach to photography was unique and transcended the boundaries of traditional portraiture of the era. He is often credited with popularizing environmental portraiture, a style that captures subjects in their personal surroundings in order to express the subject’s true character. Newman would meticulously prepare, construct, and edit his photographs to create captivating portraits that communicate the subject’s relationship to their professional and personal identities.

In this photograph, Willem de Kooning, a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionism movement of the 1940s and 50s, is captured in his New York City studio.

FRANÇOIS GALL – À LA BELLE SAISON (EUGÉNIE ALLONGÉE DANS UNE PRAIRIE), CA. 1980

François Gall (1912-1987), a Hungarian-born French painter, is best known for his figure-focused paintings in a French Impressionistic style. Settling in Paris in 1936, Gall was heavily influenced by other Impressionist masters, such as Edgar Degas. Originating in France in the late 1800s, Impressionism was an artistic movement focused on capturing the fleeting moments of the everyday experience.

À La Belle Saison (Eugénie Allongée Dans Une Prairie), ca. 1980, is exemplary of Gall’s Impressionist style, which reflects many of the artistic ambitions of the Impressionists; capturing the dappled effects of light through short, visible brushstrokes, using bright, pastel colours, and depicting everyday subjects. Gall often painted women engaged in traditionally feminine activities and used his wife and daughters as his subjects. In this particular work, Eugénie is captured in a soft, sunlit meadow.

This work comes to us with impeccable provenance, and confirmation of authenticity from the daughter of the artist, Madame Marie-Lize Gall.

FRED YATES – MILLENNIUM MADNESS

Fred Yates (1922-2008), a self-taught English artist known for his vibrant landscapes and child-like abstractions, was inspired by the beauty of daily life. Similar to the work of L.S. Lowry, Yates’ biggest influence and fellow Mancunian, Yates’ paintings contain honest observations about life and the world around him. While the two artists are similar in technique and subject matter, what sets Yates apart is his explosive use of colour.

Distinctive to Yate’s style, this large, spirited canvas incorporates bright colours, expressive loose brushwork, and three-dimensional elements. Yate’s unique painting technique involved building up layers of paint to create a textured surface with a sculptural quality.

Though Yates is recognized for his vibrant use of colour, he had many phases throughout his career- during some he created dark, dreary paintings, and in others his canvases were full of radiant, lively colours. As an artist, he was profoundly affected by his own emotional state. It is believed that Millennium Madness was created in the last years of his life when a joie de vivre returned to him and his work.

JAAN POLDAAS – 0511, 2005

Jaan Poldaas was born in Sweden in 1948 to Estonian refugees, but came to Canada as a young child. He initially studied and trained as an architect, but switched directions, and in 1971 started working with paint. Although paint was an unusual medium for conceptual art, Poldaas was a paradigmatic figure in the movement- emphasizing the creative process, rather than the finished aesthetics of a product.

In his work, Poldaas experimented with obscure mathematical formulas and used chance to guide his work. Though he is known for his geometric, abstract style, Poldaas continued to experiment with form and colour throughout his career. In 0511, Poldaas’ fascination with geometric shapes and the semiotics of colour are evident in the bold contrasting colours of the sky-blue background and strong, vibrant red of the central shape.

GORDON APPELBE SMITH – SEPT. 80 #13, 1980

Gordon Appelbe Smith (1919-2020) was a key figure in Canadian Contemporary art. Born in England, Smith settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1934 and studied at the Winnipeg School of Art. During his time serving in World War II and spending time in London, Smith developed an interest in contemporary art. Following the war, Smith settled in Vancouver to continue his art studies and start his career in art.

Over the course of his illustrious, 75-year long career, Smith’s work was an ever-evolving balance between his love of representing nature and his interest in abstraction. According to Smith, painting should re-create an experience rather than represent an illustration of an experience.

SEPT. 80 #13, 1980 is representative of this sentiment and the style Gordon Smith was working in during the 1980s. Using visible, overlapping brushstrokes to layer colours, texture, and lines, he was able to create a sense of movement, emotion, and memory into his works.

NORVAL MORRISSEAU – SUNSHINE, 1985

Often regarded as the Grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada, Norval Morrisseau’s unique artistic style pushed boundaries and paved the way for other contemporary Indigenous artists. At a time when many Canadian artists were being influenced by techniques of modern abstraction, Morrisseau (1932-2007) was drawing from personal experiences and his own cultural sources. Consequently, he created a distinctive visual aesthetic that was all his own.

Best known for his bold use of colour and ability to tell traditional and spiritual stories, Sunshine, 1985, is a great example of the striking, colourful canvases Morrisseau is renowned for. This large work, made up of two canvases fastened together, represents nature’s return to spring and the emergence of new life.

ABOUT THE AUCTION

Our spring Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art auction is available for bidding online until Thursday, March 27 at 2 pm ET.

This curated collection features works by renowned Canadian artists Illingworth Holey Kerr, Jaan Poldaas, John Geoffrey Caruthers, and Sorel Etrog, alongside international works by André Kertész, Eadweard Muybridge, Arnold Newman, and Jerry Uelsmann. Also highlighted are iconic works by Roy De Forest, Gordon Appelbe Smith, Yves Gaucher, François Gall, Fred Yates, and Lindee Climo.

View the gallery.

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