Sold for: $2,250

PROVENANCE
Roberts Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Vancouver

Born in Essex, England, Florence Gertrude Vale’s family emigrated to Toronto when she was two years old. She married artist Albert Franck in 1929 who introduced her to the visual arts scene in Toronto and was part of the Gerrard street circle of artists, writers, and critics. In the 40's the Franck home was a center of activity for young artists such as Harold Town, Oscar Cahen, and Ray Mead. Albert Franck would organize exhibitions of “unaffiliated artists” and in 1953 the Franck’s opened a gallery in their Hazelton Avenue home which lasted for a year.

Self-taught, Florence Vale started to paint in the late 1940’s using her husband's paints and supplies. Sourcing imagery from her personal memories, fantasies and dreams, Vale produced a body of surreal and modern painting, drawing and collage which places her among the avant-garde in Toronto’s art circles.

In the 1970’s Harold Town created an extensive series of works which he called “Vale Variations”. This series was based off of a small 1965 ink drawing by Florence Vale titled “Pyramid of Roses”.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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