Lot 35: Lise Gervais 1933 - 1998 Canadian oil on canvas

Lise Gervais 1933 - 1998 Canadian oil on canvas Souvenir de Persepolis 36 1/4 x 36 inches 92.1 x 91.4 centimeters signed and dated 1963 and on verso dated and inscribed ""69-6"" Provenance:Galerie de Montréal Private Collection, Ontario Souvenir de Persépolis highlights two separate and distinct environments. Directly, the title refers to the ancient capital of the First Persian Empire. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iran, Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire and is believed to be have been built as a place to celebrate special and symbolic occasions. Indirectly, through Lise Gervais's adept understanding of painterly abstraction, the work also reflects the effervescent Post-Automatist decade in Quebec. During the 1960s, Gervais was dedicated to abstraction and chose pure, unblended colour pigments. Executed in 1963, this work is steeped in Paul-Émile Borduas's non-figurative influence, notably through its tremendously textural landscape. Although Gervais traveled to Europe in 1958, there is no record of her traveling to Persepolis. However, she successfully captures the celebratory nature of the site through the energetic swathes of bold, contrasting colours. Gervais created great movement with her palette knife and, as seen here, the colours are flooding inwards, engulfing the brilliant white pigment. Thus, Souvenir de Persépolis is a great dance of colour, texture, movement and, above all, inspiration.