Artwork by William Perehudoff,  ACP-79-42

William Perehudoff
ACP-79-42

acrylic on paper
signed lower right
22.75 x 30.5 ins ( 57.8 x 77.5 cms )

Auction Estimate: $5,000.00$3,000.00 - $5,000.00

Price Realized $3,450.00
Sale date: November 22nd 2016

Provenance:
Theo Waddington Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Roald Nasgaard, “Abstract Painting in Canada”, Toronto/Vancouver, 2007, page 290.
Perehudoff's background as a watercolour artist can be seen in this work with the varying degrees of opacity of the acrylic paint. The artist's commitment to colour field painting is exemplified in the thick vertical bars of bright colour flanked by dark brown curved bands, encapsulating the central forms. The importance of space between the strokes of pigment allows each band to stand alone while the white background acts as a vehicle to energize the composition with the contrast created between the pure background and bars of colour. The strong contrast of the vibrant central forms against the soft muted earth tones of the peripheral pigment, evokes an overall subtle sensuousness created by Perehudoff's handling of the medium.

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William Perehudoff
(1919 - 2013) RCA

William Perehudoff was born in Langham, Saskatchewan and maintained a connection to this area throughout his life. In 1944, the Saskatoon Art Centre opened, and this provided Perehudoff with early and important access to art. Within a couple of years he was exhibiting regularly in group exhibitions such as the Saskatoon Exhibition and the Art Centre fall show. Throughout this phase of his development as an artist, he farmed in the summer and devoted himself to painting and his art education in the winter. Like many artists of the time, Perehudoff had been influenced by the motivations and methodologies of social realist artists such as Diego Rivera.  Perehudoff took instruction from the influential French muralist Jean Charlot, as well as Amédé Ozenfant in New York, the French Purist and associate of Le Corbusier.  Kenneth Noland, a very important colour field painter, was also a major influence to his work. Since the 1960s, Perehudoff was a central figure in Canadian abstraction. The effect of the flat plains and open skies that are so dramatically present throughout Saskatchewan seem to be detectable in his work. William Perehudoff received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1994 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Regina in 2003. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1998.