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Signed and dated on verso; oil on panel, 12¼ × 15 in. (31 × 38.1 cm.)
Provenance: Madeline Canney (no. 163)
Canney lived much of his life in Cornwall, and it is natural that nautical themes pervade his work.
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Oil on canvas
18 1/2 x 15 3/8 in. (47 x 39 cm.)
Provenance: Madeleine Canney
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Signed and titled on the reverse; alkyd on panel, 4¾ × 9¼ in. (12 × 23.5 cm.)
Provenance: Madeline Canney (no. 147)
Canney was one of the first painters to explore the possibilities of the medium alkyd, an oil paint that dries rapidly and allows colours to be overlaid without the edges ‘bleeding’ into one another. From the early 1980s onwards the medium had a profound effect on his work, and resulted in his most distinctive period as a painter. A painting that is closely related to Choppy, titled Rigging, was included in Robert Miller, Michael Canney: Oils, Alkyds and Reliefs, exh. cat.,The Fine Art Society, London, 2007 (no. 37).
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Signed, titled and dated on the reverse; oil on panel, 4¾ × 14 in. (12 × 35.5 cm.)
Provenance: Madeline Canney (no. 125)
During the eight-year period that elapsed between Canney starting and finishing this picture, his work underwent a considerable, if subtle, stylistic change: the final stage in his journey from the abstract expressionism of the 1950s to the saturated and considered geometric work, mostly in alkyd, of the 1980s. In 1984 he moved from Cornwall to Italy, setting up his studio in a medieval hill-top village near Sienna.
We are grateful to Christoper Gange and Robert Miller for assistance.
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Alkyd on panel
Signed and dated on verso
10 x 7 in. (25.5 x 17.7 cm.)
Provenance: Madeleine Canney
Exhibited: Michael Canney: Oils, Alkyds and Reliefs, exh. cat.,The Fine Art Society, London, 2007 (ex catalogue).
Framed in a white gessoed shadow box with matching broad bevelled slip, non reflective museum glass
Canney was one of the first painters to explore the possibilities of the medium alkyd, an oil paint that dries rapidly and allows colours to be overlaid without the edges ‘bleeding’ into one another. From the early 1980s onwards the medium had a profound effect on his work, and resulted in his most distinctive period as a painter.
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Titled on a label to the reverse, oil on canvas, 9¾ x 7¼ ins. (24.7 x 18.4 cms.)
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist, 1989, at Colle di Val d'Elsa, Italy (accession no. 390); private collection since 1989
Stylistically, this work relates closely to the Neo-Cubist reliefs which Canney produced in a series during the mid 50's.
Michael Canney was associated with the Newlyn and St. Ives schools, both as student and teacher, and in 1956 was appointed curator of the Newlyn Orion Gallery. His circle of friends included Scott, Nicholson, Vaughan, Hilton and Lanyon. Since Canney's death he has become the subject of increasing critical attention and acclaim.
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Oil on board, 12 X 14Q ins. (30 X 36.8 cms.)
Provenance: the artist's estate; private collection.
From the late 1950s Canney's style began to change under the prevailing influence of Abstract Expressionism. His semi figurative style gave way to works of pure abstraction. In 1958 he met the painter Mark Rothko:'A man of great presence and charm, he was very generous about my work and spent some time looking at it. This was very encouraging as I regarded Rothko as the most important painter on the international scene at the time' - Michael Canney, 1958 (quoted in Michael Canney, Belgave Gallery catalogue, 1990, p. 6).
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Oil on board, 7 X 18Q ins. (17.8 X 47 cms.)
Provenance: the artist's estate
Between 1956 and 1965, as Curator of the Newlyn Art gallery, Canney was acquainted with most of the artists working at the time in Cornwall. Many counted amongst his closest friends; of these Scott, Lanyon and Hilton exerted the greatest influence on him during this period.
The evolving geometry seen in this untitled painting is indicative of the increasingly rigorous style which so characterised Canney's later paintings, (see cats. 57-58).
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Signed and dated on the reverse, stock no. 683
Oil on board, 10E X 10E ins. (27.3 X 27.3 cms.)
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist's estate
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Signed and dated on the reverse, stock no. 671
Oil on panel, 11Q X 11Q ins. (29.2 X 29.2 cms.)
Provenance: the artist's estate
'For a number of years now my work has been broadly related to the Constructivist tradition. However since 1979 it has relied upon a simple principle, in which the work constructs itself from itself .. The majority of the paintings and reliefs pay homage to the square, a format selected initially in the interests of its non-associative properties, its mathematical simplicity, and its formal neutrality. Division of the square format is by fifths, quarters, thirds, halves and so on, all of them proportions that are easily appreciated by the eye .. The imposition of these limits comes as a reaction against an earlier hedonistic period of improvisatory abstraction.' Michael Canney, Newlyn Art Gallery catalogue, 1983, pp. 4-7.
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