Lot 11: Kazuo Nakamura 1926 - 2002 Canadian oil on canvas

Kazuo Nakamura 1926 - 2002 Canadian oil on canvas Morning 41 3/4 x 37 inches 106 x 94 centimeters signed and dated 1962 and on verso signed, titled on the gallery label, dated and inscribed ""Toronto"" Literature:Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007, page 115 Provenance:Equinox Gallery, Vancouver Private Collection, Montreal Kazuo Nakamura was a member of Painters Eleven, but, unlike the other members of this ground-breaking group, his work did not follow the gestural approach of the Abstract Expressionists, but a precise and subtle treatment of his pictorial elements. Nakamura worked simultaneously on both abstract and representational works, and was known for his monochromatic String paintings, illusionary Block Structure works and delicately abstracted landscapes, such as this fine early work from his important Hemlock series. Typical of this series is Morning's predominantly blue-green palette and fracturing of the water and reflections into softly modulated planes. This fracturing revealed his interest in patterns in nature. He stated, "I think there's a sort of fundamental universal pattern in all art and nature. Painters are learning a lot from science now. In a sense, scientists and artists are doing the same thing. This world of pattern is a world we are discovering together." Nakamura encompasses both the natural world and abstraction in the water; by focusing on reflective pattern in soft nuances of monochromatic colour, he creates an illusion of flatness, and by taking the eye from realism to abstraction, creates a sense of visual delight.