EXPLORE THE EXHIBITION
THE OPTIMISM OF COLOUR
William Perehudoff, a retrospective
The Optimism of Colour is a major retrospective of the works of renowned Canadian abstract painter William Perehudoff. It features more than 60 works, tracing the evolution of Perehudoff’s approach from early figurative works and murals to radiant abstractions, their interplays of colour suggesting musical chords. Drawn from public and private Canadian collections, the exhibition was organized for the Mendel Art Gallery by guest curator Karen Wilkin, of New York City.ITINERARY
Mendel Art Gallery
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
October 1, 2010 to January 9, 2011Kamloops Art Gallery
Kamloops, British Columbia
March 26 to May 28, 2011Glenbow Museum
Calgary, Alberta
July 1 to September 18, 2011Art Gallery of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
January 12 to May 31, 2012Robert McLaughlin Gallery
Oshawa, Ontario
July 7 to September 9, 2012
Featured Works Archive
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Early Works
Perehudoff appeared on the Saskatoon scene in 1944, simultaneously with the formation of the Saskatoon Art Centre (SAC), which was... -
Young Doukhobor Boy, 1946
The singing colour that so distinguishes Perehudoff’s abstractions has been present in his work almost from the beginning, whatever his... -
The Blizzard, 1947
A measure of his [Perehudoff's] growing mastery is the watercolour The Blizzard, from January 1947. It depicts a wild winter night,... -
The Intercontinental Packers Limited cafeteria murals, 1948
It was also Perehudoff’s own idea to execute the four large murals on the subject of the meatpacking industry that... -
The Intercontinental Packers Limited reception room murals, 1953
My epiphanic moment came in the summer of 2009, when, as part of a small group of visitors to the... -
AC-64-009, 1964
…beginning in the early 1960s, Perehudoff moved decisively towards the kind of pared-down abstraction that established his reputation as a... -
AC-65-2, Red Breaking, 1965
…beginning in the early 1960s, Perehudoff moved decisively towards the kind of pared-down abstraction that established his reputation as a... -
Nanai #6, 1969
Since the early 1960s, Perehudoff’s mature paintings have tested the expressive potential of a large and diverse vocabulary of sometimes... -
AC-83-024, 1983
In his paintings of the 1980s, he [Perehudoff] flirted, like Noland, with iridescence, metallic paints, and chatoyant pigments that changed colour depending... -
AC-87-041, 1987
…in the late 1980s, after thoroughly examining the expressive potential of horizontality and relationships of straight-edged incidents, he [Perehudoff] consciously... -
AC-91-16, 1991
Since the early 1960s, Perehudoff’s mature paintings have tested the expressive potential of a large and diverse vocabulary of sometimes... -
Studies on Paper
For all the clarity and assurance of Perehudoff’s work, it is plain that remaining alert to possibilities that arise in...
