Lot 14: Christopher Pratt 1935 - Canadian mixed media and

Christopher Pratt 1935 - Canadian mixed media and collage on primed plywood Rosemary in 1971 7 7/8 x 11 3/8 inches 20 x 28.9 centimeters signed and dated 2010 and on verso signed, titled and dated Literature:David P. Silcox and Meriké Weiler, Christopher Pratt, 1982, page 130, the 1971 graphite drawing entitled Woman in Black reproduced page 131 Joyce Zemans, Christopher Pratt: A Retrospective, Vancouver Art Gallery, 1985, the 1971 graphite drawing entitled Woman in Black reproduced page 52 and listed page 93 Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Christopher Pratt: All My Own Work, National Gallery of Canada, 2005, the 1972 / 1989 canvas entitled Woman Wearing Black reproduced page 45, listed page 129 Provenance:Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver Estate of James M. Brickley, Vancouver Exhibited:Vancouver Art Gallery, Christopher Pratt: A Retrospective, November 23, 1985 - January 26, 1986, traveling to the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, February 21 - April 20, 1986, the related drawing entitled Woman in Black was exhibited National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Christopher Pratt: All My Own Work, September 30, 2005 - January 8, 2006, the related 1972 / 1989 canvas entitled Woman Wearing Black was exhibited Christopher Pratt began portraying the female figure around 1964. These were often idealized figures absorbed in natural everyday activities, frequently shown with their backs to the viewer. Pratt found his models in the small neighbouring communities of Mount Carmel and St. Catherines in Newfoundland. From 1971 to 1973, he did not have a regular model, and revealed about this one, "This is a true-to-life drawing of a friend of ours. I only drew her once. She was much bigger physically and infinitely more confident and matter of fact than most of my models. She came from my own world." This intriguing image engaged him over decades, from the 1971 drawing to two canvases, one from 1989, the other 1972 / 1989, to this polished 2010 mixed media work. Distilled to its most essential details, this image has a refined and elegant sensuality, and contains a subtle surreal edge, in that the woman on the mattress seems suspended in the pale blue ground, an abstract space like that of the realm of a dreamer.