EDNA TACON (AMERICAN-CANADIAN 1905-1980)

EDNA TACON (AMERICAN-CANADIAN 1905-1980)

Tonal Poem,1945
oil on canvas
102 x 77 cm (40 1/8 x 30 1/4 in.)
signed and dated lower left

EXHIBITON
Canadian Group Painters, The Art Gallery of Toronto and the Art Association of Montreal, 1945-1946 (label on verso)
Canadian National Exhibition, 1947 (label on verso)

ESSAY
Trained as a violinist traveling to Canada, Europe and New York to perform, it was not until 1929 after marrying her first husband Paul Henry Tacon that Edna started to experiment with painting. Tacon is heavily influenced by Kandinsky studying his theories on abstraction, color and the relationship between the two. Tacon started to intertwine her understanding of music with her abstraction studies, quoting: “many people will say that painting cannot reach the sublime summit that music has attained as an abstract art. But there is an analogy between music and painting when both are nonrepresentational ... It is the ambitious aim of our modern artist to exploit...all the ramifications of such an analogy” (Zemans, Joyce; Burrell, Elizabeth; Hunter, Elizabeth (1988). Kathleen Munn and Edna Taçon: New Perspectives on Modernism in Canada/Nouveau regard sur le modernisme au Canada. The Art Gallery of York University/Éditions du GREF). In Tacon’s early years as an artist she worked with collages, describing her collages as “paper plastics”, which was derived from the writing of Hilla Rebay curator of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting in New York. Tacon in 1941 was awarded a scholarship by a foundation through the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. With this several of her works were exhibited Ten American Non-Objective Painters, in March of 1941. In 1941 was her solo exhibition at New York's Studio 83 and in Toronto at the Eaton’s Fine Arts Galleries. From 1942-1947 she had seven exhibitions primarily between Toronto and New York; of the shows, she was part of a series of group shows which was hosted by the Guggenheim Foundation. This lot is a prime example of Edna Tacon expression and execution of Kandinsky’s theory of the spiritual nature of art.

CONDITION
Sold in as-is condition. Observed in frame, the painting is in fragile condition with overall craquelure. Inspection under UV light shows scattered retouching to around 10%, primarily to the perimeter.
framed dimensions: 116 x 91 cm (45 5/8 x 35 7/8 in.)

Kindly note, the auction is comprised of two sessions:
Session I: Russian and Asian Art, Antiques and Jewelry, lots 1-331
Session II: European, North and South American, and Ethnographic Art, Antiques, Jewelry, and Design, lots 500-827

N.B. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.