Art canadien classique
1952 - Tupper Grocery - Fitzroy 7445, 1989
Oil on canvas
12 x 16 in
30.5 x 40.6 cm
30.5 x 40.6 cm
This painting is presently on view at our Toronto gallery
$12,000
Inscriptions
signed ‘JOHN / LITTLE’ (lower right); titled, inscribed, signed and dated, ‘1952 - TUPPER GROCERY - Fitzroy 7445 / MR. WEINER and MR. NADLER proprietors / also LEE LEE LAUNDRY / next door to 2077 Tupper - our first apt. 4th floor rear - JOHN LITTLE / 89’ (verso, top horizontal stretcher); inscribed by the artist in black ink, ‘NOV 29 1952 at VARSITY STADIUM TORONTO / FRANK FLAIR'S ARGOS beat FRANK FILCHOCK'S ESKIMOS 21-11 / before 27, 391 for the GREY CUP’ (verso, left vertical stretcher); inscribed by the artist in black ink, ‘89-132’ (verso, bottom horizontal stretcher).Provenance
Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, Toronto
Private collection, Toronto
Expositions
Montreal, Galerie Alan Klinkhoff, John Little - City Life from 1951, November 4-18, 2017; Toronto, Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, November 23 - December 9, 2017, no.6Documentation
Alan Klinkhoff, John Little: City Life from 1951 (Montreal: Alan Klinkhoff Gallery, 2017), 48-49.
Inscribed on the reverse by the artist, "1952 -TUPPER GROCERY Fitzroy 7445, MR. WEINER and MR. NADLER proprietors, also LEE LEE LAUNDRY, next door to 2077 Tupper - our first apt. 4th floor rear - ";"NOV 291952 at VARSITY STADIUM TORONTO, FRANK FLAIR'S ARGOS beat FRANK FILCHOCKS ESKIMOS 21-11, before 27, 391 for the GREY CUP". This is a wonderful autobiographical note where he describes his first apartment shared with his new bride Lorraine. The appartment was located on Tupper street not far from the Montreal Forum.
The tribute Little wrote on the reverse is a great bit of sports trivia relating to 1952 when Little originally drew the street of their first apartment after getting married. Lorraine did the research to assure accuracy of the details John then penned.
Fitzroy 7445 is in fact the telephone number. Fitzroy suggests F = 3, T = 4. Tel 34 7445. This two-letter, four digit sequence was used until about 1958 in Montreal.
This is where Little's professional career gets underway. William Watson had been buying pictures on a somewhat regular basis the previous year. It is in 1952 with his marriage to Lorraine McMahon when, with her assistance and encouragement, that John begins to develop a focus and discipline. Lorraine was very much a part of everything for his entire career.
The tribute Little wrote on the reverse is a great bit of sports trivia relating to 1952 when Little originally drew the street of their first apartment after getting married. Lorraine did the research to assure accuracy of the details John then penned.
Fitzroy 7445 is in fact the telephone number. Fitzroy suggests F = 3, T = 4. Tel 34 7445. This two-letter, four digit sequence was used until about 1958 in Montreal.
This is where Little's professional career gets underway. William Watson had been buying pictures on a somewhat regular basis the previous year. It is in 1952 with his marriage to Lorraine McMahon when, with her assistance and encouragement, that John begins to develop a focus and discipline. Lorraine was very much a part of everything for his entire career.
