Lot 34: Maxwell Bennett Bates 1906 - 1980 Canadian oil on

Maxwell Bennett Bates 1906 - 1980 Canadian oil on board Street Scene 48 x 30 inches 121.9 x 76.2 centimeters signed and dated 1968 and on verso signed, titled and inscribed ""931 Lakeview Ave., Victoria, BC"" on the frame Provenance:Private Collection, Toronto Maxwell Bates studied Abstract Expressionism with Max Beckmann in New York. This left an indelible mark on Bates's work, most strongly in terms of colour and composition. Bates was also affected by his experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany; his stark drawings from that time are an insightful window on the human condition. In his figurative work, he is deftly able to give us a sense of the character of his subjects in the glance of their eyes, the set of their lips, their posture and the colour of their skin. His placement of them in relation to one another is key to their particular story. Street Scene shows us a man with a world-weary face, a working class woman and a smaller, upward-glancing figure who stuffs something - perhaps money - into his pocket. The man and woman face us, his heavily lidded eyes direct in their gaze. This moment on a street corner is a classic example of Bates's interest in the human condition, the relationships between social classes and the relationships of everyday people with each another.