Until a fuller, more detailed account of his life and
career is more readily available, «The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris» serves
as a
wonderful introduction to an
artist who deserves to be better known outside of Canada.
The show sets new canvases in the context of four significant paintings from Ayres's 65 - year
career as an
artist, including Sabrina (1978), a
wonderful mass of coloured daubs that looks
as if one of Seurat's Pointillist masterpieces has been magnified 500 times.