BLAIR SHARPE (1954-2019)
Yellow Peril, 1977
Available: $3,250.00 CAD
The reverse bears an exhibition card from Blair Sharpe: 15 Years of Work / 15 Ans de Production, a survey exhibition held at The Gallery at Arts Court (now the Ottawa Art Gallery) from December 7, 1989 to January 7, 1990. The exhibition examined Sharpe’s work from 1975 to 1989 and was accompanied by a published catalogue written by curator Mayo Graham.
Interior visualization shown for illustrative purposes. AI-generated room setting created to demonstrate the Blair Sharpe painting in a collector-style residential environment.
Born in Montréal in 1954 and based in Ottawa, Sharpe exhibited extensively across Canada over a career spanning five decades. A major mid-career survey of his work was presented at the Ottawa Art Gallery in 1989. His work is represented in private, corporate and public collections.
This authentic 1977 oil painting is in good vintage condition and displays beautifully. The canvas support is taut and flat. The paint surface features a rich, heavy impasto texture with standard, stable age craquelure mainly along the perimeter, consistent with a work of this period. Isolated, stable historic paint losses are noted on the far-left perimeter. These small, localized losses are static, do not compromise the surrounding heavy impasto, and do not distract from the central composition. There is an area of old, stable overpaint in the lower-left quadrant of uncertain origin, possibly period, which blends into the surrounding heavy brushwork. The underlying condition beneath this area is unknown. In addition, there is evidence of very faint, old paint splatter that has been carefully removed. Given its age and character, this appears consistent with studio-related material rather than a recent occurrence, although its exact origin cannot be determined. The painting is structurally sound, displays well, and is housed in its period aluminum frame.
