59 x 47.5 in (149.9 x 120.7 cm) including frame
Executed on an ambitious scale of 58 by 46 inches, Untitled (Twins) is a major work of Canadian Magic Realism by Winnipeg artist Marielouise Kreyes. Born and trained in Germany before emigrating to Canada in the 1950s, Kreyes developed a meticulous, high-detail realist technique grounded in European New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) and North American precisionism. Conceived as a private commission for a Winnipeg family, the painting portrays young twin sisters inside their domestic residence, seated at a game table against an expansive picture window overlooking a snow-covered yard along the banks of the Assiniboine River.
The composition aligns directly with the psychological realism being explored concurrently across Canada by artists such as Christiane Pflug and Jack Chambers. Like Pflug’s celebrated Toronto interiors, Kreyes establishes a strict boundary between interior sanctuary and exterior environment, contrasting the domestic room with the stark clarity of a Canadian winter landscape seen through plate glass. The work also parallels Chambers’s "perceptual realism" in its treatment of everyday domestic subject matter, rendering a game of Monopoly under an even, crystalline light.
Central to the painting's presence is the uncanny doubling and symmetry of its subjects. The girls are depicted in mirror alignment: identical blunt bangs, dark blue dresses with white collars, white stockings, and Mary Jane shoes, each accompanied by a matching plush cat with a pink bow. Their direct, unblinking gazes break the casual premise of the board game, introducing a quiet psychological tension. This rigorous visual symmetry recalls Diane Arbus’s seminal 1967 photograph Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, as well as historical traditions of double portraiture, where repetition and balance transform a conventional family likeness into an arresting, enigmatic visual statement.
Private Collection, Winnipeg
Marielouise Kreyes
Born in Lobberich, West Germany, Marielousie Kreyes came to Canada in 1951 and by 1957 was a Canadian citizen. She studied at the University of Manitoba, School of Fine Arts, 1959-63, under Professors Robert Bruce, Swinton, Bjeljac, Eyre, Williams and she was awarded her diploma in art in 1963. She held solo shows at the Albert White Galleries, Toronto (1965) and the Yellow Door Gallery, Winnipeg (1965). Kreyes exhibited in the Second Annual McLaren Acquisition Show (Winnipeg, 1966) and the Travelling Show of the Manitoba Society of Artists (1967). She won the Gold Medal and Grand Prix Du Salon International de Vichy (France) 1961 and an Award in Sculpture from the University of Manitoba in 1960. Kreyes lived in Selkirk, Manitoba until she passed away on September 2, 1983.
Major Fall Fine Art Auction
November 12 - December 3, 2026
661 Wall St, Winnipeg MB
(204) 255-5690
mayberryfineart.com
[email protected]
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Bidding Range
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Increment
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|---|---|
| $0.00 - $50.00 | $1.00 |
| $50.00 - $100.00 | $5.00 |
| $100.00 - $500.00 | $10.00 |
| $500.00 - $1,000.00 | $25.00 |
| $1,000.00 - $2,500.00 | $50.00 |
| $2,500.00 - $10,000.00 | $100.00 |
| $10,000.00 - $20,000.00 | $200.00 |
| $20,000.00 - $50,000.00 | $500.00 |
| $50,000.00 - $100,000.00 | $1,000.00 |
| $100,000.00 - $300,000.00 | $5,000.00 |
| $300,000.00 - $1,000,000.00 | $10,000.00 |
| $1,000,000.00 - $2,000,000.00 | $25,000.00 |
| $2,000,000.00+ | $50,000.00 |
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