‘Untitled, Lost Painting 6’ by Michael Canney is one of his later abstracts executed in fast drying alkyd oil paint which Canney employed to give greater precision of line and clarity of colour. The work was lost for a number of years but has recently resurfaced and is one of the larger and more dynamic of the period.

Michael Canney provides a valuable insight into the dynamic form of such a piece in an article for “Constructivist Forum”, 1988, where he states: “Although I have at times used a modular format or grid, I am by temperament drawn towards a more dynamic approach, in which a de-stabilisation of the square occurs through diagonal and oblique divisions of the surface. Amongst the many procedures investigated, cuts and folding of the square have suggested the option of low-relief, of shape reversal, inversion, shearing and above all, a reassembly of the parts within a logical, systematic, or mathematical framework. Musical analogies occur in the form of mirror images, inversions, contrapuntal movements, and variations on a theme.”

The painting is listed in Michael Canney’s artist's estate website as ‘Untitled, Lost Painting 6’. Notably the photograph of the work is inverted. We’re fairly confident we have the right way up!  The work is further authenticated on the verso by the artist’s estate and Simon Canney, and there evocatively titled Zig Zag Zawn and dated c. 1985.