“But always the high, delicate key of color in the late fall has a particular quality that is the most satisfying and has dominated my selection in color arrangements. The restrained lyrical colour scheme of greys and browns of Autumn Sonata accords with the season that held the greatest appeal for FitzGerald. A preliminary drawing FitzGerald produced in late 1953 as Study for Autumn Sonata, based upon the wafting motion of falling leaves, was squared for transfer to the Masonite support of Autumn Sonata. This method not only allowed him to approximate the kind of detailed brushwork he used in his final oil paintings but also produced the tonal modulations within forms that he hoped to capture in the finished work. This was likely discussed between the artists when FitzGerald visited Toronto in July 1953 as a jury member for the Canadian National Exhibition.ĭuring the 1950s, FitzGerald had returned in his abstract drawings to the technique he had perfected in the 1940s of massing small dots and flecks of ink together like so many magnetized iron filings. FitzGerald painted two pictures, Autumn Sonata and April Rhythm, c. 1954, and allowed Brooker to select the one he wanted. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Study for Autumn Sonata, November 18, 1953, ink and graphite on paper, 29.6 x 38.6 cm, School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.įitzGerald’s move to abstraction so impressed Brooker that he commissioned his friend to create a major abstract painting for him. Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, April Rhythm, c. 1954, oil on Masonite, 60.8 x 76 cm, private collection. Art historian Brian Foss has argued that it was necessary for FitzGerald to pursue this path as an outcome of his intellectual and spiritual development: “The too-obsessive capturing on paper or canvas of the minutiae of the physical world risked depriving his art of the quasi-mystical analysis that it was intended to promote.” Brooker’s art immediately changed from the abstract to the figurative upon seeing FitzGerald’s work in the late 1920s, and FitzGerald moved in the opposite direction some twenty years later when he turned to abstraction during the final phase of his career. The relationship was one of mutual support, admiration, and, sometimes, influence. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship marked by a spirited exchange of correspondence. Her final Oscar nomination, in the Best Actress category, was for 1978s Autumn Sonata, which was helmed by famed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (to whom. The grande dame, playing an icy concert pianist, is matched beat for beat in ferocity by the filmmaker’s recurring lead Liv Ullmann, as her eldest daughter. The painting’s title, which evokes wafting leaves in autumn set to a musical sonata, was likely given by the Toronto artist Bertram Brooker (1888–1955).įitzGerald first met Brooker in Winnipeg during the summer of 1929. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann AUTUMN SONATA was the only collaboration between cinema’s two great Bergmans: Ingmar and Ingrid, the monumental star of CASABLANCA.

Nature could be expressed simply by colours and shapes. You can change the settings at any time (. The gentle rhythm, balance, and movement of forms in Autumn Sonata mark the type of abstraction that interested FitzGerald late in his career. By selecting Accept all, you give us permission to use the following services on our website: YouTube, Vimeo. School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Prelude: Introduction by the director himself in an interview from 2003 by Marie Nyreröd.īefore ‘Autumn Sonata’, at 6pm there will be a screening of the documentary ‘Bergman Island’ (2006).Lionel LeMoine FitzGerald, Autumn Sonata, 1953–54 The film will be introduced by Andria Nicolaou. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.Īppropriate for audiences over 18 years of age. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Pantheon Art Cinema 29 Diagorou Street Nicosia, Nicosia 1097Īfter a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva.

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