Harold Barling Town
1924 - 1990
paintings
Works on Paper
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Biography
Harold Town (1924-1990 Peterborough, Ontario) was one of Canada ’s most prolific and versatile artists. His vast body of work comprises paintings, etchings, lithographs, collages, drawings and works in other media.
During his lifetime, his work was shown at major galleries and international exhibitions in North and South America and in Europe.
He was a founding member of Painters Eleven, the name of the group which was based simply on the number of artists that were present the first meeting. This group of artists helped to introduce Canadians to abstract art in the 1950’s.
Throughout his career he remained a focus of controversy for his original artwork, flamboyant public persona and outspoken opinions.
Town was trained at Central Technical School and Ontario College of Art, both in Toronto. Influenced by the work of Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning, and as well, Asian art at the Royal Ontario Museum, he developed a collage technique that was acclaimed and Town represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and 1964 and at the São Paolo Bienal in 1957 and 1961.
Known as an "unpredictable" painter, Town's work moved quickly from a dark expressionist style to abstraction which contrasted vivid colours. In the 1960s, Town developed a style of prints which he called "Single Autograph Prints", a phrase he never explained. These monotype prints were colourful and delicate, winning Town awards in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia and Santiago, Chile, were the prints were acquired by the Solomon Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Alfred Barr the director of MoMA at the time called Town "one of the world's greatest printmakers."
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1956 Single Autographic Prints. Harold Town, Picture Loan Society, Toronto, ON
1957 Autographic Prints by Harold Town, Galerie L'Actuelle, Montreal, QC
1958 Two Canadian Painters: Paul-Emile Borduas and Harold Town, Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., London, England
1960 Harold Town: collages, paintings, prints, drawings, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK
1960 Salon d'automne: Nakamura and Harold Town, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC
1962 Harold Town, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, ON
1963 Town: An Exhibition of Recent Paintings of the Theme of "The Tyranny of the Corner", New Jersey Museum of the Arts, New Jersey, NY, USA
1964 XXXII Biennale de Venezia: Harold Town and Elza Mayhew, Venice, Italy
1964 Thirteen Paintings by Harold Town, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1966 Harold Town: Drawings and Prints, Macdonald Institute, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
1966 Exhibition of Autographic Prints and Drawings in Brush, Pen and Ink, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo, ON
1967 Harold Town Paintings, Scarborough College, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
1967 Exhibition of Autographic Prints, Hart House, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
1967 Jean McEwen and Harold Town, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
1969 Harold Town: Enigmas, Hart House, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
1970 Retrospective Drawing Exhibition, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
1971 French Postcard Set - Girl on a Bicycle, Fleet Galleries, Winnipeg, MB
1971 Harold Town: Prints, Sarnia Public Library, Sarnia, ON
1971 Silent Stars, Sound Stars, Film Stars, Rothman's Art Gallery, Stratford, ON
1972 Harold Town - A Selection, Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg, ON
1973 Harold Town: The First Exhibition of New Work 1969-1973, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON; London Public Library and Art Museum, London, ON; Rodman Hall Art Center, St. Catharines, ON; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ON; curator Kay Reid
1974 Harold Town: Lithographs and Serigraphs, Mazelow Gallery, Toronto, ON
1975 Indications: paintings, collage, drawings, prints, sculpture. Harold Town
1944-1975 Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
1978 Harold Town. The Toy Horse. Works on Paper, Waddington Galleries, Montreal, QC
1979 Vale Variations, Robertson Galleries, Ottawa, ON
1980 Poets and Other People: Drawings by Harold Town, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON
1981 Harold Town: Recent Paintings, Theo Waddington Galleries, Toronto, ON
1982 Portrait Drawings by Harold Town, Robertson Galleries, Ottawa, ON
1986 Harold Town: A Retrospective, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1997 Harold Town: Magnificent Decade 1955-1965, Moore Gallery, Toronto, ON
2013 Harold Town: Selected New Works, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB
2016 Harold Barling Town, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB
SELECTED AWARDS
1957 Arno Prize, Sao Paulo Biennale
1957 Second International Exhibition of Drawings and Prints, Yugoslavia
1958 Canada Council Purchase Prize
1958 International Exhibition of Drawing and Prints, Lugano, Switzerland
1960 Guggenheim International Award, Honourable Mention, Canada
1966 Honorary Doctorate, York University
1967 Centennial Medal
1968 Officer, Order of Canada
SELECTED MEMBERSHIPS
Canadian Group of Painters
Canadian Society of Graphic Art
Ontario Society of Artists
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers
SELECTED PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, ON
Tate Gallery, London, England
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK
Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
Artist
OC, RCA
1924 - 1990
Price range: $1500-$110,000
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