Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Michael Forster
To Celebrate Childhood - Entally, Yellow Light

1985

About the Item

An entrancing work about the artists childhood trip to Entally, India! A master abstractionist having spent years in Mexico with famous artists such as Rufino Tamayo - this artist had a way of presenting feelings through color and revertive brushwork. Here his childhood memory is colored in yellow - a color which speaks of his warm and rich experience which remained etched in a vivid way in his mind even in later years. He had a technique of sponging over and over dabs of paint and thru sponging could create rhythmic dots that pulsate and make his canvases glow and feel alive. He did a series of work called "To Celebrate a Childhood" and this one has a curious draw to it. It is complimented by a high quality silvered leaf frame that allows the yellow to function and glow. It measures 27 x 35 inches inside the frame and is signed with the artists cache on the back along with the estates inventory #. This work as one can see from our in-situ photo - enlivens a room and brings a positivity and welcoming aspect to a room. Would be great too with wood tones or just about any interior as yellow is a color to punctuate with yet there is a lot of detail within this canvas that draws a viewer in to take a closer look! Its provenance is estate of the artist to Messums Gallery in London. To Celebrate A Childhood-Entally, 1985 another of Michael Forster’s works executed upon his return to Canada, represents like his other work similarly titled To Celebrate A Childhood-Hooghly, 1986 a harkening back to the artist’s childhood spent growing up in Entally, India, a neighborhood in Central Kolkata previously known as Calcutta in the state of West Bengal. The artist has carefully built up his colors layer by layer until the lustrous surface is complete. Again there are no evident forms visible in this work. Rather the color has become the form, suggesting the mood, the time, and the atmosphere. All of the introspections, musings, and nostalgic remembrances of the artist are here on display. Forster always claimed that he never planned any of works, but rather insisted that they were the result of the “demands of his subconscious.” The color yellow is the dominant hue, and it is intense, all encompassing, and dominating like the oppressive heat in India. Yet the pigment also bears a cheerful tone, and it reminds us that Forster’s youth in India was a stable, if not happy time until the murder of his father. Like many of Forster’s paintings, this painting was heavily influenced by the Surrealist Movement, and in particularly the influence of his close friend Rufino Tamayo whom he met in Mexico. Forster’s paintings do not fit neatly into any one movement or style of painting. Rather they are a result of his myriad international travels, homes, and experiences. What unites all his works is his dedication to the pursuit of Modernism and his own personal search for his identity as an artist. It is important to note that Michael Forester’s work that began in Canada has now come full circle after all his travels and back home again to Canada where he painted this picture. Forster was active in Canada for more than forty-five years. His contributions to the development of Canadian art are only now receiving the attention they so richly deserve.
  • Creator:
    Michael Forster (1907 - 2002, Canadian)
  • Creation Year:
    1985
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 40.5 in (102.87 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    No issues - canvas in perfect condition and frame has patina that is in good shape! Ready to hang!
  • Gallery Location:
    Greenwich, CT
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 140221stDibs: LU1413210600702

More From This Seller

View All
Patterns and Reverberatons Abstraction
Located in Greenwich, CT
Patterns and reverberations in a celestial sense, this work can bring liveliness, movement and texture to a room. Its color palette is very attractive. Michael Forster was trailblaz...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Optical wall sculptures
By Charles Hinman
Located in Greenwich, CT
Our shaped canvas which also is a sculptural form in essence for a wall, is a geometric and forward play of optical illusion. Hinman is an important pioneer of exploration in the co...
Category

1970s Hard-Edge Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Composition Blue Center Rouge
Located in Greenwich, CT
A painting that almost feels and acts like a sculpture as it is highly built up surface that takes on a 3 dimensional quality. He builds up the acrylic and resin in heavy layers and...
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Resin, Acrylic, Canvas

C.286, Geometric, Hard Edge and Optical painting
By Vasa Velizar Mihich
Located in Greenwich, CT
It is rare to see a painting by Vasa Mihich available. These works are carefully worked through and planned with the aid of Computers. Mihich will work through the sequencing of co...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Plywood, Acrylic

Moving On, Landscape Abstract
By Albert Stadler
Located in Greenwich, CT
Albert Stadler was an innovator in American art, particularly in the 1960's. He was in Clement Greenberg's exhibition of 1964 titled "Post Painterly Ab...
Category

1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Figure Composition, Faces
By Karel Appel
Located in Greenwich, CT
Karel Appel is internationally recognized and collected for this subject matter in particular. Preferable to have the faces, this piece has rich color and presence. Good value and ...
Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

You May Also Like

Sola
By Dan Christensen
Located in Boca Raton, FL
A leading abstract painter in his lifetime, Dan Christensen drew from a range of Modernist sources to produce colorful, luminous compositions that featured giant dots, whirling loops...
Category

20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Sola
Price Upon Request
Dystopian Dreams
Located in BARCELONA, ES
The expressive power of intuition, movement and the use of gestures play a mayor role in Krisztina Horvath’s creative process. She draws her inspiration often from nature and from Ea...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Graphite

Quantum Color #25. Mixed media painting on canvas, mounted on a stretcher.
By Natasha Zupan
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Quantum Color #25, 2021 by Natasha Zupan Paper from Civil Rights law text, acrylic on canvas Size: 48 in. H x 48 in. W x 3 in. D Unframed _________________________________ Natasha Z...
Category

2010s Abstract Mixed Media

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Canvas

Violet Candy (Abstract painting)
By Tommaso Fattovich
Located in London, GB
Violet Candy (Abstract painting) Oil and Acrylic on Canvas — Unframed. This artwork will be shipped flat within the US. If shipped outside of the US this work will be shipped rolled...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Quantum Color #45 MIxed Media, paper hand sewing to a stretched canvas
By Natasha Zupan
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Untitled #3, 2019 by Natasha Zupan Mixed Media, paper hand sewing to a stretched canvas Size: 36in. H x 60in. W x 4D _____________________________________ Natasha Zupan's body of w...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Paper

Abstract II Basket
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Basket is a special kind of container opened at the top, bottom or both. It is woven with natural fibers and can carry fish or fire. As one of the human’s first receptacles no matter...
Category

2010s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Recently Viewed

View All