David Bolduc
(Canadian, 1945–2010)
Untitled (#7), 1975
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 79.25 × 62 in. (201.3 × 157.5 cm)
Created in 1975, Untitled (#7) represents a foundational breakthrough canvas from the precise moment David Bolduc developed his signature visual language. Standing nearly seven feet tall, this monumental work highlights Bolduc's transition into full Lyrical Abstraction, establishing the central-motif format that would define his forty-year career.
The painting features an atmospheric, rich olive-green field constructed through layers of scraped, troweled, and gestural paint application. Anchored along the central vertical axis is Bolduc’s iconic calligraphic totem, a multi-hued line of pure impasto squeezed directly from the tube in vibrant cadmium yellow, primary red, plum, and soft pink. Bolduc famously referred to these central vertical figures as "carriers for colour" or "armatures upon which the rest of the painting was wound," comparing their orientation to the hands of a clock pointing straight upward to midnight.
Influenced by his 1970 encounter with a major Henri Matisse retrospective in Paris, as well as the color-field legacy of Jack Bush and his own overland travels through Europe, Turkey, and Nepal, Bolduc sought to achieve visual complexity within a deceptively simple structure. In Untitled (#7), the dramatic contrast between the quiet, tactile green ground and the radiant, sculptural center creates a dynamic equilibrium that stands as a textbook example of mid-1970s Canadian modernist painting.
Pivotal Figure in Canadian Lyrical Abstraction: Landmark contributor to post-war Canadian painting, forming the bridge between second- and third-generation Toronto modernists.
14 Canadians Exhibition (1977): Selected by curator Andrew Hudson for the landmark exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Carmen Lamanna & David Mirvish Gallery History: Represented by Canada's most prestigious contemporary galleries during the height of the 1970s abstract movement.
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal / MAC (Montreal, QC)
Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON)
Toronto-Dominion Bank Art Collection (Toronto, ON)
The Mirvish Collection (Toronto, ON)
David Bolduc
(Canadian, 1945–2010)
Untitled (#7), 1975
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 79.25 × 62 in. (201.3 × 157.5 cm)
Created in 1975, Untitled (#7) represents a foundational breakthrough canvas from the precise moment David Bolduc developed his signature visual language. Standing nearly seven feet tall, this monumental work highlights Bolduc's transition into full Lyrical Abstraction, establishing the central-motif format that would define his forty-year career.
The painting features an atmospheric, rich olive-green field constructed through layers of scraped, troweled, and gestural paint application. Anchored along the central vertical axis is Bolduc’s iconic calligraphic totem, a multi-hued line of pure impasto squeezed directly from the tube in vibrant cadmium yellow, primary red, plum, and soft pink. Bolduc famously referred to these central vertical figures as "carriers for colour" or "armatures upon which the rest of the painting was wound," comparing their orientation to the hands of a clock pointing straight upward to midnight.
Influenced by his 1970 encounter with a major Henri Matisse retrospective in Paris, as well as the color-field legacy of Jack Bush and his own overland travels through Europe, Turkey, and Nepal, Bolduc sought to achieve visual complexity within a deceptively simple structure. In Untitled (#7), the dramatic contrast between the quiet, tactile green ground and the radiant, sculptural center creates a dynamic equilibrium that stands as a textbook example of mid-1970s Canadian modernist painting.
Pivotal Figure in Canadian Lyrical Abstraction: Landmark contributor to post-war Canadian painting, forming the bridge between second- and third-generation Toronto modernists.
14 Canadians Exhibition (1977): Selected by curator Andrew Hudson for the landmark exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Carmen Lamanna & David Mirvish Gallery History: Represented by Canada's most prestigious contemporary galleries during the height of the 1970s abstract movement.
National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON)
Art Gallery of Ontario / AGO (Toronto, ON)
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal / MAC (Montreal, QC)
Art Gallery of Hamilton (Hamilton, ON)
Toronto-Dominion Bank Art Collection (Toronto, ON)
The Mirvish Collection (Toronto, ON)
