Harold Klunder: Four Recent Works

On View Now at TrépanierBaer:

Several years ago, Harold Klunder began making small paintings in his home studio in Montréal. This main-floor studio is more like a study or a sitting room with a view to the garden at the back of the house with soft light drafting into this tranquil space. Responding to his environment, Klunder has made small and intimate musings that are responses to whatever he may be thinking about at the time: his garden, a portrait, Goya or Velázquez, a colour, all while listening to music – either classical or jazz – whatever suited the moment.

Sixteen years ago, in an article written for Canadian Art, Gary Michael Dault said this regarding one of Harold Klunder’s paintings titled This Clay, 1995-99:  “The impositions and exhumations of pigment… make the painting visually inexhaustible in its chromatic complexity… The wonder of it is how all that tonnage of colour kept breathing during the painting’s making….”

These recent works have all of the weight, chromatic intensity, compositional balance and resolve of Harold Klunder’s larger works. Klunder recently stated: “Making a good small painting is hard. I want to figure it out, play with the format, and make small paintings that resonate as strongly as my larger ones. Getting the size of the brushstroke right is sometimes a challenge and really important.”

These four works are a delight to engage with and several are spectacular:  The Ninth Circle may be one of Harold Klunder’s most resolved and accomplished works to date.

Now that the lazy days of summer are truly upon us we hope that you’ll take the time to stop by the gallery and have a look.

Image Credit:
Harold Klunder
The Ninth Circle, 2014/2015
Oil on linen – 24″ diameter