Lot 105: WILLIAM KURELEK, R.C.A., BONNIE, NANCY AND ELLEN, mixed media on board, 48 ins x 24 ins; 121.9 cms x 61 cms

WILLIAM KURELEK, R.C.A.BONNIE, NANCY AND ELLENmixed media on boardsigned, titled and dated “June, 1960” 48 ins x 24 ins; 121.9 cms x 61 cms Provenance:Private Collection, Mexico CityAs a student at the Ontario College of Art in 1949-50, Kurelek’s favourite instructors were Fred Hagan, Eric Freifeld and Carl Schaefer, who were preserving the figural tradition in the face of the rising tide of abstraction. He also admired the Mexican muralists and the English painter, Stanley Spencer. Kurelek included portraits of himself and his family in his nostalgic scenes of growing up in western Canada, and painted two self portraits (1950, 1957). The latter were exhibited in his first exhibition at the Isaacs Gallery in Toronto in March-April 1960 which was very well attended. It may have been as an outcome of this exhibition that Kurelek painted the portrait of Bonnie, Nancy and Ellen in June, 1960 (their names, the date, and Kurelek’s signature are inscribed on the sheet of paper that lies at their feet).Formal portraits of this nature are atypical in Kurelek’s oeuvre. There is no narrative, and the posed figures do not interact with each other. The source was probably one or more photographs of the three young females, whom the viewer assumes to be related. The figures stand against a solid red backdrop, the cast shadows give them substance, and the piece of paper in the foreground indicates the horizontal plane on which they stand, so that they appear to be anchored securely in space. Their gazes (one to the left, one to the right) set up a zigzag across the picture plane; only the youngest looks straight out at the viewer. The placement of their feet creates another rhythm, enlivening what could have been a static composition. If one were to speculate on their identity, it could be that Bonnie, Nancy and Ellen are of Ukrainian heritage; the patterned bands that decorate Nancy’s red dress are typically Ukrainian.Estimate: $25,000–30,000