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Inventory # PCRE-09607-0003

CGP CSGA CSPWC
1882 - 1953
Canadian

Main Street
colour drypoint etching on paper
signed and editioned 39/40 and on verso dated 1942 on the labels and inscribed "E250" and "State IV" on the sheet and "E-250 David Milne: Main Street (1942) 3-plate colour drypoint. State IV, later printing" on the gallery label and variously by Douglas Duncan
6 3/4 x 9 in, 17.1 x 22.9 cm

PROVENANCE
Sold sale of Sotheby's, May 14, 1973, lot 48
The Framing Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Ontario

LITERATURE
Alan Jarvis, David Milne, National Gallery of Canada, 1955, listed, catalogue #163, unpaginated
Rosemarie L. Tovell, Reflections in a Quiet Pool: The Prints of David Milne, National Gallery of Canada, 1980, catalogue #80, state IV, reproduced pages 180 and 196


David Milne’s etchings produced during his time living in Uxbridge, Ontario showcased an artist preoccupied with the use of colour and form. Main Street, depicting the view outside the artist’s studio, is an emblematic example of the artist’s work at this time. Over the course of five months Milne pulled four states of the scene, redrawing the plates and reformulating the colour scheme until he was satisfied with the result; this is the final impression, state IV, representing the final version of the image. The colours are unambiguously primary, with inks in yellow, Chinese vermillion and French ultramarine blurring together in dappled harmony. The scene is abuzz with activity, with cars and pedestrians crowding the street in front of the town's buildings and a background group of trees. The activity is concentrated at the top of the plate, however, with almost the entire bottom half of the image left as blank ground: we get the sense of viewing the town from an elevated vista, raised to the level of the artist’s vision outside his window.

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All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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