Small Combo, c. 1954

Abstract painting by Oscar Cahén primarily done in shades of deep blue, green, and black, with a small area of bright red in the upper left and a strip of orange running down the right edge of the frame.

Oscar Cahén is most often remembered for the way he used colour: like “a battering ram,” as a critic said in 1954. Small Combo makes colour itself the subject matter: the scalding, hot magenta-and-orange mixtures seem to jump off a background of midnight blues and blacks. But this is an illusion; in fact the cold, dark colours are the foreground, painted over Cahén’s trademark tangerine and rose. As one looks, the force of the colour makes the foreground and background exchange places back and forth, keeping the picture plane animated. Small Combo was exhibited in the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1955.

Untitled (Piano Player), 1943

Editorial illustration by Oscar Cahén of an elderly man in a suit, holding a hat and suitcase, surrounded by wreckage in a destroyed city. The illustration is done in black with small touches of green in grass and tree leaves. The title "Hiroshima by John Hersey" runs along the bottom of the page in a green box. The top-right corner has a red box with the text "The Standard Magazine, Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 1946."

Editorial illustration by Oscar Cahén of an emaciated man being held up and placed on a blanket by four other men, similarly skinny with baggy clothes and sombre expressions. Vases of flowers are in the background.

Painting by Oscar Cahén of baby Jesus attended by Mary, Magi, animals, and other figures. A star shines bright yellow light down on the baby and Mary, who is dressed in red and white, while the rest of the scene is dark in shades of blue and green.

Cover illustration for Maclean’s magazine, January 15, 1952

Abstract painting by Oscar Cahén of several round shapes on top of a pillar-like object. Contrasts of dark and light and illusions of transparency give an atmospheric impression of sunlight penetrating a gloomy place.

Abstract painting by Oscar Cahén with a red background and a central motif of a barbed, upward-thrusting tall shape, crowned with crescents and several round shapes in shades of green.

Editorial illustration by Oscar Cahén of a street scene with a European-style sidewalk café in the centre ("Cafe Europa" written in the window). People in front of adjacent buildings watch as a boy and woman in an apron stand in front of the cafe and wait as a police officer writes them a ticket.

Abstract painting by Oscar Cahén on a white canvas. A roughly outlined shape on the right resembles a bird while a long, dark shape on the left could be interpreted as a figure regarding the bird. A long orange object appears between the two and a scribble in red ink below that.

Abstract painting by Oscar Cahén of a large white figure in the centre with a scribble of colours and shapes where its head should be. The background is olive green to the right of the figure and pink with areas of orange and purple to the left.

Photograph of a mural by Oscar Cahén. Brightly painted barbed and crescent shapes are seen on a wall behind tables and chairs in a cafeteria.

Untitled (Piano Player), 1943

Cover illustration for Maclean’s magazine, January 15, 1952