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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

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