This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt.

Cactus Day

More Works By Milly Ristvedt, RCA Acrylic on Canvas 1986
48 × 48 in 121.92 × 121.92 cm
$22,000
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About Cactus Day

This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt.


Renowned art historian Barry Lord once observed that Milly Ristvedt's paintings were "more insistent than Bush, more consciously structured than Molinari."
Celebrated as a masterful colour field painter, Ristvedt’s work now hangs in the National Gallery of Canada. Cactus Day was created in 1986 when Ristvedt continued to explore the potential of colour to evoke emotion expressed in gestural form. In Cactus Day, the colour field is saturated in a warm golden yellow. The viewer’s eye is drawn to a generous passage of deep cranberry red that dominates the canvas. Lyrical thickly applied markings in soft white, pale yellow and lime green flow vertically down the canvas balancing the composition. A small dab of bright green adds visual interest.

“The influence of abstract expressionism, colour field and minimalism is evident in the earliest paintings. In the eighties these works gradually shifted into more cerebral and minimalist explorations of colour and gestural form. Over time these works became more horizontal and vertical in orientation.” Milly Ristvedt

“The dynamic tension between order and freedom is a constant in her work due primarily, she said, to ‘my interest…in the complexity of colour and its capacity to move us. “ Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada

Milly Ristvedt was born in British Columbia and studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University). Her first solo exhibit was at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in Toronto. In the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with famed Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitiski and Frank Stella. Her work has been included in many publications, She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2004 and honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
She has won seven Canada Council awards and two Ontario Arts Council awards and had over 50 solo exhibitions and been part of countless group shows. Ristvedt's work can be found in major public collections throughout North America including the National Gallery of Canada.

Milly Ristvedt is represented exclusively by the Oeno Gallery.
This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 2 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 3 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 4 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 5 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 6 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 7 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 8 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 9 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 10 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 11 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 12 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 13 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 14 This large yellow and red contemporary abstract painting was created by Milly Ristvedt. Image 15