Lot 17: Kazuo Nakamura 1926 - 2002 Canadian oil on canvas

Kazuo Nakamura 1926 - 2002 Canadian oil on canvas Blue Landscape 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1975 and on verso signed and dated on the inside of the stretcher Literature:Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, 2007, page 115 Provenance:Thielsen Gallery, London Acquired from the above by the present Private Collector, Toronto, 1976 Kazuo Nakamura 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 was a founding member of the group Painters Eleven, which formed in Toronto in 1953. A diverse group, they spanned generations and styles, but all were committed to abstraction. Nakamura's work is simple, often monochromatic or of a small range of similar colours. He was very interested in science, the inner structure of things and the patterns of nat re. Hints of Nakamura's Japanese heritage appear at times in his works, which often have a calligraphic feel. His work is quite varied, including explorations of grids and lines, linear abstractions, block-like forms in surreal settings, explorations of the number patterns in the Pascal triangle and abstractions based on the structures of numbers. Blue Landscape explores patterning and reflection, optics and vibration. Although it is a very delicate abstraction, its roots are clearly in the tradition of landscape. The consignor will donate the proceeds from the sale of this work to Canadian charities. "