CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART - Heffel

HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE 8PROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the ArtistPrivate Collection, OntarioLITERATURE:Scott Watson, Jack Shadbolt, 1990, page 32,a panel from the mural About Town with theUnited Services reproduced page 32In the 1930s, Jack Shadbolt was stronglyinfluenced by the socially conscious work ofMexican muralist Diego Rivera and that ofAmerican Thomas Hart Benton ~ particularly hisfamous Hoosier mural. In 1943, Shadbolt foundthe opportunity to create a large, panoramicmural commission about Vancouver in wartime,an eight~panel work entitled About Town with theUnited Services. After making preparatorysketches and watercolour studies, Shadbolt,assisted by artist Eric Friefeld, painted the imagesdirectly onto a plaster wall in the canteen of theUnited Services Recreation Centre. The use ofarchitectural detail is exact and specific, such asthis work’s distinctive Duff’s Cafe sign, motivatedby Shadbolt’s desire to spur businesses to use artin their buildings, and for people to identify withtheir own urban environment of streets, shopsand buildings. Shadbolt wanted the mural tohave a sense of community ~ a “people’s art madeby an artist for the people.”Unfortunately, the mural was demolished alongwith the building, leaving only the preparatoryworks such as this fine watercolour tocommemorate it. Shadbolt has captured thevitality of Vancouver’s historic downtown at duskin this exceptional image, warmed bystreetlamps and redolent of atmosphere.ESTIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,0001 JACK LEONARD SHADBOLTBCSFA CGP CSPWC OC RCA 1909 ~ 1998Pender St. at Granville ~Sketch for United Services Centre Muralwatercolour on illustration board, signed, dated 1942and inscribed in the margin zoot suit, summer shorts, sailorsand on verso titled11 3/8 x 8 1/2 in, 28.9 x 21.6 cm1