The Adoration, first shown at the Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Arts, 1950, and marked “Not for Sale,” was Oscar Cahén’s most ambitious work made prior to his turn to abstract painting. It depicts a traditional baby Jesus attended by Mary, Magi, and animals (and some untraditional others, such as the foreground figure bearing a lantern). However, the ethnically half-Jewish Cahén’s actual religious identity remains enigmatic. A friend recalled, “He wished he could believe in God because he wanted so much to know the peace from believing. He made a thorough study of almost every religion in the world and had the uncomfortable habit of suddenly saying, ‘Tell me, why do you believe in God?’”