, 2008. Fibreglass stone and airplane. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2011. Photo © Roman März](/images/content/menuSeeGallery.png)
Benjamin West
The Death of General Wolfe (Detail), 1770
oil on canvas
152.6 x 214.5 cm
Transfer from the Canadian War Memorials, 1921 (Gift of the 2nd Duke of Westminster, England, 1918)
National Gallery of Canada (no. 8007)
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Sombre, 1986
Roland Poulin
Canadian, 1940
polychromed and laminated cedar and plywood
113 x 311 x 90 cm assembled
Purchased 1987
National Gallery of Canada (no. 29714.1-4)
This built structure is an assemblage of planes balanced together in an ephemeral and fortuitous equilibrium. Rejecting rigid verticals and horizontals, Poulin's deviations result in breathing, organic forms. While massive and solid and occupying a distinct space, Sombre is both restless and calm, introspective and silent. The physical mass of the object suggests the heaviness of the coffin and death; its title evokes the night. The forms interact, speaking of containment, of a hidden void that envelopes a penetrable space; a shadow masks the opening into its interior.
Categories
Canadian
Contemporary
Sculpture
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Space is a field of energy. (1 min 20 sec)
The body is central in sculpture. (0 min 7 sec)
Library and Archives
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Hymne an die Nacht IV
Hymne an die Nacht II
No. 8
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