Abstract Composition, 1952

Provenance

Private collection

Literature

Iris Nowell, Painters Eleven: The Wild Ones of Canadian Art, reproduced pg.115

Abstract Composition is a 1952 work by Luke, painted the same year that her summer sessions with Hans Hoffman were completed. It was during those sessions when Luke would begin to experiment with colour relationships and how they would affect the structure of her paintings. Abstract Composition is one of Luke’s earlier abstract works that makes use of oil paint, a medium that lent itself well to producing vibrant, rich colour. She had begun to organize her compositions directly along horizontal and vertical axis in the late 1940s, and combined with her education in colour theory her works gradually became more dynamic and energetic. Abstract Composition is an excellent insight into Luke’s early experiments with abstraction, and a strong example of Hoffman’s influence over her early works.