From the Dark

About From the Dark

This contemporary abstract painting is by Milly Ristvedt, one of Canada’s most important artists.

Highly praised and prized for her masterful and intuitive sense of colour, Milly Ristvedt continues to dazzle collectors and critics alike with her abstract work. This is one of a series of new works created in 2025. Ristvedt has been exploring the power and potential of colour to evoke emotion for more than six decades.
In this dramatic painting, vertical expressive swatches of saturated colour—in bright red and lime green play against a rich colour field of deep blues and purple. As always with Ristvedt’s work, there is a palpable energy—a liveliness to the gestural brushstrokes which visibly animates the work. With this rich, bold palette, the colours seem to vibrate.

“Colour is the magical sensation and substance, the ‘philosopher’s stone,’ that for me represents hope in a time of great challenge for us all. At least for now, the river outside my studio window continues on its journey to the sea.”
Milly Ristvedt

“Ristvedt’s history, replete with accomplishments and honours, still fails to prepare a viewer for the inventiveness, technical brilliance and dynamism of her canvases. The three works now part of the national collection show something of this uncommon degree of achievement.” Adam Welch, Associate Curator, Modern Art, Art Gallery of Ontario

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 has 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.