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

$19,000
£14,616.07
€16,965.10
CA$26,794.54
A$30,014.39
CHF 15,764.64
MX$364,965.30
NOK 199,631.83
SEK 189,504.29
DKK 126,617.08

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
Emerging Sun, Celestial Sky
Located in Greenwich, CT
Michael Forster has a unique blend of Mexican symbolism and an approach to universal themes such as "Celestial Skies". This work explores both the mys...
Category

1990s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Abstraction, Mauves
Located in Greenwich, CT
This marvelous work done in the rich palette of mauves and intermittent blues, greens and whites is a dynamic work that would bring movement to any room. Forster was a Canadian arti...
Category

1980s Contemporary Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Celestial Sky
Located in Greenwich, CT
This remarkable painting evocative of the celestial universe is lovely in its texture, intensive brush work and lovely color palette. Forster who was Canadian, in his earlier years ...
Category

1990s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Celestial Sky
$20,000 Sale Price
28% Off
Fiesta abstract with Yellow
Located in Greenwich, CT
A beautiful abstraction from the 1970's by an American artist working in California but with ties to Hawaii. He melds collage with paint and creates a surface which is exquisite, la...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Dye, Acrylic, Rice Paper

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

Sunrise Dance, Celestial Sky
Located in Greenwich, CT
Heavily influenced by the works of his close friend the famous Mexico City painter Rufino Tamayo, Forster created a special focus on the supremacy of color. And of larger context paintings that explored both nature and the universe. His paintings speak to all and of our oneness within this realm and an appreciation of it. The work is positive and wishes to unite and expand our vision outward from ourselves. This painting has a warmth of color that will enrich any room and compliment furniture and ambience. It is in a gold frame that has some wear to the gold patina. It is signed on the verso with an artist's cache of initials and it has the inventory # 798A from the estate, along with a date of 1992 on the back. The work comes out of the artist's estate as well as Messums Gallery from London. The piece measures 35 x 49 inches inside its frame. Forster's all-absorbing passion for color resulted in such magnificent gestural pictures as Sunrise Dance, 1992 with its intense color palette. Consistently experimenting and initiating fresh use of paint, Michael Forster...
Category

1990s Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

You May Also Like

Abstraction in Yellows
By Stuart Bigley
Located in Germantown, NY
Stuart Bigley is an artist based in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley. He has been making and showing his artwork for over 40 years. During this time he also co-founded and ran the ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Yellow reunion (Lost lights) 2, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Nestor Toro
Located in Yardley, PA
Abstract minimalist color field with yellow shades and gloss finish. Created using palette knifes and fine textured layers. Signed in front. Ready to hang I include a certificate ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Composition in Yellow
By Frédéric Choisel
Located in Burlingame, CA
Composition in Yellow By a French American Frédéric Choisel. He inspired by the cities of France, New York and the Bay Area and creates elegant abstractions that tell a story of urba...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

Yellow Fusion, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Nestor Toro
Located in Yardley, PA
Acrylic yellow with some, blue, purple and green, expressive contrasting color field painting. Textured and layered with fluid translucent acrylics and iridescent mediums. ORIGINA...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Yellow reunion (Lost lights), Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
By Nestor Toro
Located in Yardley, PA
Painting: Acrylic on Canvas. Abstract minimalist color field with yellow shades and gloss finish. Created using palette knifes and fine textured layers. Signed in front. Ready to ...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Md Tokon - Untitled Yellow, Painting 2018
By Md Tokon
Located in Greenwich, CT
Collection: Silent Space Acrylic on canvas Md Tokon's style has reflected the art of American Abstract Expressionists. Md Tokon spent his early years in Jhenidah and Dhaka. The phys...
Category

2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic