Lot 88: OZIAS LEDUC, R.C.A., PORTRAIT, oil on canvas, 23.75 ins x 14.75 ins; 58.4 cms x 35.6 cms

OZIAS LEDUC, R.C.A.PORTRAIToil on canvassigned with initials and dated ‘97 23.75 ins x 14.75 ins; 58.4 cms x 35.6 cms Provenance:Arthur Leggett Fine Arts Limited, TorontoPrivate Collection, OntarioLiterature:Jean-René Ostiguy, Ozias Leduc: Symbolist and Religious Painting (catalogue), Extension Services Department of The National Gallery of Canada, 1974, pages 98, 196-197.Note:Leduc was in Paris for much of 1897, the year this work was painted. He did not leave until May and it is likely this is a Canadian subject. Leduc had church decorating contracts in Saint-Hilaire, Quebec at that time. While we do not know the identity of the subject, we do know there are a limited number of other portraits of ecclesiasts undertaken after this. Ostiguy cites at least six such portraits executed, with the aid of photographs, between 1900 and 1930, although there is no evidence that this work was done from a photograph.Estimate: $12,000–15,000