Artwork by William Perehudoff,  AC-81-99

William Perehudoff
AC-81-99

acrylic on canvas
signed, titled and dated 1981 on the reverse; unframed
62 x 12.5 ins ( 157.5 x 31.8 cms )

Auction Estimate: $8,000.00$6,000.00 - $8,000.00

Price Realized $7,080.00
Sale date: May 29th 2018

Provenance:
Private Collection, Winnipeg
Literature:
Nancy E. Dillow, William Perehudoff: Recent Paintings, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, 1978, page 7
Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada, Toronto, 2007, page 290
A bright and refreshing example of William Perehudoff’s iconic line abstractions, “AC-81-99” shows the artist’s continued exploration into the effects of subtle shifts in colour and tone within a composition. The lines running through the slim canvas plane in light rose and soft blue are more organic and fluid, as if captured in motion rather than calm rest.

Akin to many of the artist’s abstracted line pieces, the emphasis on soft tonality between complementary colours is integral to the work to create a subtle vibration of colour and light emanating from the canvas. The lines of the piece correspond with this feeling of instilled vibrancy as they gently curve from edge to edge, melding between the blush and blue hues as if captured in motion. “AC-81-99” exemplifies what Dillow described as the “stretch of colour...[that] vibrates like a violin string, activating the entire canvas.”

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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.