Oil on canvas, framed. Featuring an abstract expressionist composition. Signed and attr. Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923-2015) on the lower right corner. 42 x 46 cm (16.5 x 18 inches) frame: 51 x 55 cm (20.1 x 21.7 inches). Ellsworth Kelly was an eminent American artist known for his abstract paintings. His use of bright colors, and simple shapes, contributed to the discourse of 20th-century painting. “I have worked to free shape from its ground, and then to work the shape so that it has a definite relationship to the space around it,†he once explained. “So that it has a clarity and a measure within itself of its parts (angles, curves, edges and mass); and so that, with color and tonality, the shape finds its own space and always demands its freedom and separateness.†Born on May 31, 1923 in Newburgh, NY, he went on to study technical drawing and design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. In 1943, he joined the army and worked as a camouflage artist, creating painted objects intended to misdirect enemy bombers. After the war, Kelly returned to Europe on a scholarship from the G.I. Bill. While studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he befriended fellow American artist Jack Youngerman and saw the works of Pablo Picasso. He returned to New York in 1952, and established himself alongside Frank Stella and Al Held in rejecting the gestural brushstrokes of Abstract Expressionism with his pared-down Color-Field paintings. He died on December 27, 2015 at the age of 92 in Spencertown, NY. In 2018, the artist’s final work Austin (2015), was unveiled to the public as a part of the permanent collection of the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas. The structure, a 2,700-square-foot chapel without any religious imagery, was planned from the ground up by Kelly, including the color of the grout, redwood totem, and hand-blown glass windows. His works are also held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Tate Gallery in London, and the Reina Sofia National Museum in Madrid, among others. PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario estate

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

By [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, a work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: In our opinion, a work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : In our opinion, this work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Bears signature : In our opinion, the signature on the artwork may be spurious.
Apocryphal : Of doubtful authenticity.