W.J. PHILLIPS TOP TWENTY COUNTDOWN

W.J. PHILLIPS TOP TWENTY COUNTDOWN

W.J. Phillips woodblock prints have always been popular with Masters Gallery and friends. Phillips is doubtless Canada’s artist who was most proficient at woodblock printmaking. His skillfully executed oeuvre of woodblock prints are an excellent choice for anyone wanting to collect Canadian art, as they were made in editions ranging from 5 to 150 of each. Multiple editions of each work of art makes availability greater and thus prospect of amassing the particular images one wants (or all of them) becomes a real possibility. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this means Phillips woodblock prints are not original art. The making of each woodblock print is done completely hands-on by the artist (just as much so as an oil painting) and is both difficult and laborious. These prints resemble nothing of the type produced in very large editions, or unlimited editions, with en mass technological printing processes. To prove this point further, note that because each edition is individually pulled from the woodblocks by the artist, none are identical. Each impression will vary in colour and clarity as seen by two editions of Morning below.

Two different editions of Phillips' Morning, edition of 150, 1924

Because collecting Phillips’ woodblock prints is actually feasible, many people become very enthusiastic about which ones they would like and what they want to acquire next. Some collectors choose to stick to prints of a specific location, such as Lake of the Woods, The Rockies or the West Coast. Other collectors choose to have their collections represent a variety, or selection of everything Phillips did.

Most collectors might consider a select few works more desirable to collect than others, as they can be singled out as his masterpieces. Phillips fans could probably agree quite closely as to which would comprise the artist’s top five woodblock prints. The top five are in fact so desirable that there can often be waiting lists of prospective buyers interested in acquiring the next edition that comes available for private sale. Naturally, this also means that when the top works come available at auction there are always bidding wars and prices are therefore significantly higher in price than Phillips’ other works. This does not mean that Phillips other woodblock prints are not also attractive; Phillips was a very talented artist after all.

Phillips executed nearly 150 colour woodblock prints over the course of his career, most of which are exceptional works of art. So after the top five, what do collectors desire next? There is a wide range in price having to do with various factors like size, subject matter/ location, level of detail, edition clarity, and so forth.

Masters Gallery buys and sells Phillips work with great regularity, and is thus familiar with which works are typically encountered, requested and favoured most. We decided to make a list of the Phillips’ woodblock prints that are cherished by collectors beyond the top five obvious examples. We came up with our top twenty list, with a specific order for the top ten and no specific order for the remaining ten (personal opinion and taste make this subjective) I for one found it difficult to narrow down a list of my favourites, having at least another dozen prints that could easily usurp others in the top twenty.

After compiling our list of what we thought ought to constitute Phillips’ top twenty woodblock prints, we decided to see how close we were to a more definitive list. By looking at the top prices for Phillips’ prints through online databases for auction price records. Interestingly, our list was close to the order of official sales prices at auction for the top ten. It is worth mentioning that Phillips’ woodblock prints have always sold often through private sale in retail art galleries across the country as well, and therefore the auction sales results are not completely gospel. Everyone’s list will vary a little bit. Have a go at compiling your own top ten or twenty, we would love to hear your opinions (jillturner@shaw.ca) If you need help remembering all the prints you can visit a website devoted to his complete graphic works here to refresh your memory of all the prints.

Here is our top ten:

1. Karlukwees, edition of 100, 1929

2. York Boats, edition of 150, 1930

3. Summer Idyll, edition of 100, 1926

4. Mamalilicoola, edition of 100, 1928

5. Jim King’s Wharf, edition of 100, 1927

6. Norman Bay, Lake of the Woods, 1920, edition of 50

7. Indian Days, Banff, edition of 100, 1950

8. Gloaming, edition of 50, 1921

9. Hnausa, edition of 100, 1934

10. Temple Lodge, edition of 100, 1943

And our remaining top eleven through twenty:

Jack Pine, Lake Lilies, Howe Sound, Mount Torrent, Sharp’s Dock, Flying Island, Bather No. 2, Duck Hunter, West Road (Mountain Road) and Poplar Bay.

For interests sake here are the top ten by selling price:

1. Karlukwees

2. Mamalilicoola

3. Summer Idyll

4. York Boats

5. Jim King’s Wharf

6. Indian Days, Banff

7. West Road (Mountain Road, edition of 100, 1942

8. Sharp’s Dock, Pender Harbour, edition of 100, 1952

9. Gloaming

10. Howe Sound, edition of 100, 1935

Here are image of the top ten

Karlukwees 1929

York Boats 1930

Summer Idyll 1926

Mamalilicoola 1928

Jim King's Wharf 1927

Norman Bay, Lake of the Woods 1920

Indian Days, Banff 1950

Gloaming 1921

Hnausa 1934

Temple Lodge 1943

West Road (Mountain Road)1942 (auction top ten, our top twenty)

Sharp's Dock, Pender Harbour 1952 (auction top ten, our top twenty)

Howe Sound 1935 (auction top ten, our top twenty)

Don't forget to send us your list to jillturner@shaw.ca or peterohler@shawcable.com Hope you enjoyed the blog.

BY: JILL TURNER (with enthusiastic input by Peter Ohler)

PAINTERLINESS: BEAUTY IN ABSTRACTION

PAINTERLINESS: BEAUTY IN ABSTRACTION

One of my favourite aspects of abstract painting is the ‘painterly’ quality that is characteristic of some of the earlier abstract art movements in Canada, especially les automatistes. ‘Painterly’ can be defined broadly as being “characterized by qualities of colour, stroke, or texture perceived as distinctive to the art form of painting, especially the rendering of forms and images in terms of colour or tonal relations rather than of contour or line.” Les Automatistes, such as Paul-Emile Borduas, Jean-Paul Riopelle or Marcelle Ferron, impress me through their uncanny ability to harmonize pure texture and colour without representation. This mastery of composition makes for delicious eye candy. I could stare at segments of a Riopelle or Borduas canvas for ages, as the paintings are visually sumptuous with their build up of ridges, craters, troughs, canyons, clumps, chunks and mountains of paint with more than satisfactorily aesthetic colour combinations.

Paul-Emile Borduas Composition in Black and White 1956 oil on canvas and three details of paint (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

Jean-Paul Riopelle Ragale 1957 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

Marcelle Ferron Ombre et voyage 1962 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

There is thought-provoking purpose and reasoning behind the creation of these ‘automatic’ and spontaneous works of art, but more often than not I find myself casting aside inner meaning in favour of simply enjoying the visual appeal of automatiste paintings. I marvel at these artists' ability to make harmonious compositions in a “wow how did they do that” sort of way, not unlike I would for the trapeze act in Cirque du Soleil! I often fret that I do not approach the work of Canada’s modern abstract art movements with enough intellectual insight. However, perhaps my love of the ‘painterliness’ of Riopelle or Borduas' work suggests otherwise. In fact, the term ‘painterly’ or ‘painterliness’ (or even post-painterly abstraction) actually is a source of intellectual discussion regarding the type of spontaneous and non-premeditated art that les automatistes, abstract expressionists, or tachisme artists engaged in.

Jean-Paul Riopelle Bourasque 1956 and Folatre 1957 oil on canvases (Past highlights sold at Masters Gallery)

Marcelle Ferron Abstract Composition 1960 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

The renowned and influential art critic Clement Greenberg referred to ‘painterly’ as being “painting built-up of the strokes and streaks left behind by the movements of the brush or knife.” Greenberg’s awareness of ‘painterly’ qualities in non-representational art led him to coin the term ‘post-painterly abstraction’ in reference to the following wave of abstract art that moved away from expressionism’s impulsive placement of texture and colour in paint.

Jean-Paul Riopelle Bleury 1957 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

Frank Stella (American) Harran II 1967 (Post-Painterly Abstraction)

Greenberg was not the first to utilize the term ‘painterly'; it can even be applied to earlier movements of representational art such as impressionism. The term is derivative of the German concept of ‘malerisch’ (painterly) which classifies painting that is “opposite of linear, plastic or formed linear design.” The term was disseminated by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wolfflin (d. 1945)

Armand Guillaumin (French)Moret-sur-Loing 1902 oil on canvas (Collection of the Tate Gallery, London)(example of painterly strokes in impressionism)

Willem Heda (Dutch, 1593-1680) Breakfast Piece Still Life (example of painting formed with controlled linear design)

The concept of painterliness surfaced again in conjunction with ‘action painting,’ which was defined by another art critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952. Rosenberg as well as Clement Greenberg and abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, all advocated that ‘action painting’ was “an arena which to come to terms with the act of creation.” Rosenberg emphasized ‘action paintings’ as being the finished product left behind from the act of painting itself, which was the ultimate work of art in the whole process.

Jackson PollockNumber 3 1948 (Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles)

Willem de KooningExcavation 1950 (Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago)

Jackson Pollock in the "act of painting" in 1950 (Action Painting)

Painterly gestures are created during the “act of the painter,” whom makes various movements that lead to paint applications of varying formation. ‘Action painting’ shares close ideas and practices with les automatistes in that works of art were to be created with no preconceived notions, whereby unconscious and instinctive feelings were to be the driving force behind spontaneous and impulsive placement of paint. Les Automatistes were a group of painters that were avant-garde and at the very forefront of the art world even on a worldwide scale. It has been argued that these Quebecois painters were the first organized group of lyrical abstract painters (and not those from prominent art centres such as New York or Paris). They created and printed a manifesto called the Refus Global. Although most of les automatistes would have been familiar with the Parisian and New York art scenes as well.

Paul-Emile Borduas Blancs Metaux 1955 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

Jean-Paul Riopelle Bijoux Broyes oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

Marcelle Ferron Sans Titre 1959 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)

I am glad to say that when I merely enjoy the ‘physical remnants of a spontaneous act of creativity' (aka 'a painting'), I am actually considering the same things that the art critics were by drawing attention to the painterly qualities of abstract painting. On that note, I will leave off with a quote from Paul-Emile Borduas himself about the simple pleasures offered by a painting.

The essential beauty of an art work is made up of nothing but its song.

- Paul-Emile Borduas

BY: JILL TURNER

Paul-Emile Borduas The Absurd City 1949 oil on canvas (Past highlight sold at Masters Gallery)