The following
description for has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts S.
Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans
& Kenyon
Note 1): Giunta
is regarded as one of the most prominent Canadian artists of the 20th
Century. This work dates from his “figural” period prior to 1958, when he
began to explore more abstract art. There is a Joseph Giunta Canadian Art
Museum in Quebec devoted exclusively to Giunta’s work. His works are in other
museums and in many private collections of significance. A documentary entitled
“Joseph Giunta: A Silent Triumph” released in 2002, shortly after Giunta’s
death, also received critical acclaim and won 5 prizes and awards in Canada,
the U.S. and France. Search “Joseph Giunta artist” on the internet to read many
websites dealing with Giunta.
The following Giunta biographical
materials are taken from the Askart.com website:
"The following, submitted July 2004, is from Richard Marroni,
representative of the
artist.
Joseph Giunta had an artistic career
that spanned over 70 years. He is known for both of his styles, realism and
gestural abstraction. From the 1930's to 1960's, he created traditional style
portraits, still lifes and landscapes,
and from 1960 to 2001, he did gestural abstraction including organic collages,
and geometric constructions.
With his family's origins rooted in
Sicily and born in Montreal, Canada, Joseph Giunta began his painting studies
in 1925 at the age of 14 under the direction of Adrien Hebert and Johnny
Johnston. From 1927 to 1930, he studied at the Monument National and at the
Montreal School of Fine Arts and pursued his training under the supervision of
Maurice Felix, Charles Maillard and Joseph St-Charles. He was influenced by the
Impressionists and the Fauves, especially Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse.
In 1930 he continued his painting
studies under the critical eye of professor C. Dyonnet, and in 1931 at the
young age of 20, he was accepted for the first time at the Montreal Museum of
Fine Arts' Annual Spring Exhibition.
He also studied and painted in
Boston, Massachusetts from 1935 to 1937. Giunta's first exhibition was in 1936
at the Fine Art Department of Eaton's store in Montreal, where he exhibited
along with Marc-Aurele Fortin. After 1958 Giunta started turning toward
abstract art. He went on an observation journey that took him to Italy and
France, and became influenced by the work of Kandinsky, Klee, Tapies, De Kooning
and Miro. For Giunta, a period followed of gestural-abstraction painting and
organic collages.
He participated in a host of solo
and group exhibitions, including at the Quebec Pavilion at the Osaka Japan
World's Fair in 1970. In 1975 after the tragic death of his only son, Giunta
did not exhibit for over nine years. He turned inward and emerged with
geometric constructions.
In 2001, the year of his death, a major exhibition was held at the Maison de
la culture Frontenac in Montreal, along with the release of a posthumous
documentary tribute to the artist by filmmaker Pepita Ferrari. It was titled
"Joseph Giunta: A Silent Triumph", and has won 5 awards in 3 separate
countries: Canada, the United States and France, and has helped to propel Giunta
to international status.
MUSEUMS
Musee des beau x arts du Quebec, Quebec City, Canada
Musee des beau x arts de Sherbrooke,
Sherbrooke QC, Canada
PERIODICALS
BIRON, Normand "Joseph Giunta: Les libertes imaginaries", Vie des
Arts, Montreal, printemps 2001, vol. X LIV, no 182, page couverture et al.
ROBERT, Guy, "Giunta: un peintre heureux, Le Collectionneur,
Montreal," automne-hiver 1989, pp. 67-70
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2003 Centre LEONARDO DA VINCI, St-Leonard
2002 Galerie d'art d'Outremont,
Outremont
2001 Maison de la culture Frontenac,
Montréal
1992 Centre d'Exposition du Vieu x
Palais, Saint-Jerome
1990 L'Alliance Française, Ottawa
1990 Centre culturelle de Mascouche,
Mascouche
1989 Vieu x Presbytere de
Saint-Bruno, Saint-Bruno
1973 Galerie Zanettin, Quebec
1970 Pavillon du Quebec, Osaka,
Japon
1969 Foyer des Arts, Musee des beau
x -arts de Montreal, Montreal
1966 Galerie Le Gobelet, Montreal
1965 Galerie Zanettin, Quebec
1963 Centre d'Art du Mont-Royal,
Montreal
1962 Arts Club, Montreal
1958 Chalet de l'Ile Sainte-Helene,
Montreal
1949 Galerie Antoine, Montreal
1947 Galerie Robert Olivier, Quebec
Note 2)
"Dolor" is a very large painting (42" x 23"), which is larger than all of the Giunta
works that appear in the Askart.com Giunta auction records, and the subject of
the painting is portrayed very poignantly and is intended to evoke a strong
emotional reaction from the viewer, and, in fact, successfully evokes such a
reaction. Giunta executed "Dolor" with more drama and crispness than
any of the paintings illustrated immediately below. The foregoing observations
and the Giunta information in Note 1), plus the following auction records regarding Giunta sales, warrant the conclusion
that the presale estimate of $2,500-$5,000 is reasonable and justifiable:
Title/Subject: Autumn
Sainte-Geneviève, QC Signed and titled.
Oil on artist's board. 20 in. x 24.02 in. sold for $1,549 on 11/03/2011-11/26/2011
at Heffel Fine Art Auctions Vancouver, Canada
Title/Subject: Port of Montreal Signed and dated “1945” Oil
on artist's board. 17.76 in. x 24.02 in. sold for $2,683 on 11/03/2011-11/26/2011 at Heffel Fine Art Auctions Vancouver, Canada
Title/Subject: Danse
Flamingo Signed. Oil on artist's board.
10 in. x 8 in. sold for $1,222 on 05/23/2011-06/02/2011 at Joyner Waddington,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
