Monday, July 1, 2019

Artist of the day, July 1 (Happy birthday Canada): Alan Caswell Collier, a Canadian painter, commercial artist, illustrator, muralist and educator. (#733)

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Alan Caswell Collier RCA, OSA  (1911 - 1990) was a painter, commercial artist, illustrator, muralist and educator.  He was born in Toronto and, with the exception of a residency in New York City from 1937 to 1942.  His primary medium was oil, however he has done some watercolors, acrylics and ink drawings.  His subjects are Canadian landscape, cityscape, mining, industry and portraiture.  His style is realist with a focus on composition, texture, volume and light.

Collier began to show an interest in art at age 12. From 1929 to 1933 he studied at the Ontario College of Art. He furthered his studies at the Art Student's League in New York in 1937, working at mines during the summer to fund his education.

In 1939 he found work in New York as an advertising artist, but moved back to Toronto to work as a sheet metal worker in 1942 after marrying fellow Canadian Ruth Brown the year prior. He joined the Canadian Army in 1943, and upon his return from the war in 1946 he again worked as an advertising artist in Toronto, but focused more on his painting and less on his commercial art. His landscapes are known for their well-defined sense of form and strong compositions stripped of extraneous detail.

In 1951 Collier started doing a series of paintings of underground mining, one of which is in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada. He was elected to the Ontario Society of Artists in 1952 and began teaching advertising art at the Ontario College of Art in 1955. The following year marked the first of many summer sketching trips taken with his family to various parts of Canada, including British Columbia. He began painting full time in 1967, and a retrospective of his work was held by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in 1971. He traveled to the High Arctic to paint with the Polar Continental Shelf Project in 1984 and 1985.

Collier work is represented in the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Frye Museum in Seattle, among many others.


Alan Caswell Collier RCA, OSA (1911 - 1990) était un peintre, artiste commercial, illustrateur, muraliste et éducateur. Il est né à Toronto et, à l'exception d'une résidence à New York de 1937 à 1942. Son principal médium était l'huile, mais il a réalisé des dessins à l'aquarelle, à l'acrylique et à l'encre. Ses sujets sont le paysage canadien, le paysage urbain, les mines, l'industrie et le portrait. Son style est réaliste et met l'accent sur la composition, la texture, le volume et la lumière.
 

Collier commence à s'intéresser à l'art à l'âge de 12 ans. De 1929 à 1933, il étudie au Ontario College of Art. Il a poursuivi ses études à la Art Student's League à New York en 1937, travaillant dans des mines pendant l'été pour financer ses études.

En 1939, il trouva du travail à New York en tant qu'artiste publicitaire, puis retourna à Toronto pour travailler comme tôlier en 1942 après avoir épousé sa compatriote Ruth Brown l'année précédente. Il entra dans l'armée canadienne en 1943 et, à son retour de la guerre en 1946, il travailla à nouveau comme artiste publicitaire à Toronto, mais se concentra davantage sur sa peinture et moins sur son art commercial. Ses paysages sont connus pour leur sens des formes bien défini et leurs compositions fortes dépourvues de détails superflus.

En 1951, Collier commence à réaliser une série de peintures sur les mines souterraines, dont l'une fait partie de la collection du Musée des beaux-arts du Canada. Il a été élu à l'Ontario Society of Artists en 1952 et a commencé à enseigner l'art publicitaire au Ontario College of Art en 1955. L'année suivante a été le premier de nombreux voyages de dessin estivaux effectués avec sa famille dans diverses régions du Canada, y compris la Colombie-Britannique. Il commence à peindre à plein temps en 1967 et une rétrospective de son travail est organisée par la Robert McLaughlin Gallery en 1971. Il se rend dans le Haut-Arctique pour peindre avec le projet du plateau continental polaire en 1984 et 1985.

Les œuvres de Collier sont notamment exposées au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, au Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario, à la Robert McLaughlin Gallery et au Frye Museum de Seattle
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© 2019. All images are copyrighted © by Alan Caswell Collier or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only.


Alan Collier and family across Canada

1949, La route de St Sauveur, Québec

Ile-aux-Coudres,  St Joseph de la Rive , Comté de Charleboix, Québec

La lumière des érables, Québec

L’Etoile D’Argent, Percé, Québec

Plage Nord, Percé, Québec

Tapisserie des Laurentides, Québec

Tug “Nipigon”, Base Abitibi Marine, Québec

1990, On Fortune Bay, Newfoundland

Burnside, B.B., Newfoundland

Cape Spear, Newfoundland

Church at Shag Harbour, N.S.

Out of the winter months

Quiet Cove, Glovertown, Newfoundland

The Elements, Cap Breton

Autumn Trees, Mulmur, Twp., Ontario

Autumn, Madawaska Valley, Near Combermere, Ontario

Madawaska River, Near Quadville, Ontario

Near Papineau Lake in October (Madawaska Valley), Ontario

Nicholsons Locks, Rideau Canal, Ontario

4120 North End of Lake Joseph, Ontario

Pioneer buildings on Greenan Lake Road, West of Barry, Ontario

1982  Cartwright, Manitoba

Alona Bay, Lake Superior

Golden September

March flows into April  (at Saskatchewan River Crossing), 1982

4150 1982 MT. Wilson, Northern Banff, Alberta, 1982

Southern Alberta, 1 mile south of Longview, Alberta, 1989

Bow River in Banff Park, Alberta

 Big Horn Dam, Alberta

30th Avenue Complex

Airport at Bella Coola, B.C., 1982

Fraser River above Yale, B.C. 1987

Above Atlin Lake  (South of the Alaska Highway on the road to Atlin, B.C.)

Around Lake Oesa

Emerald Lake, Yoho Park

Farms In The Valley (At Meadow Creek B.C.), 1989

Hurricane Ridge, Olympic Mountains, B.C.

 Long Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C.

Ranch on Kamloops Indian Reserve #1, B.C.

Road to Bella Coola

The Haines Road

 Beside The Dempster Highway (Yukons Ogilvie Mountains), 1990

Onglomerste Creek, in Valley of Hyland River, Yukon

Yukon River

Yukon’s Looming Mountains, At Mile 110, Haines Highway

Big River, Labrador

Glacier

Across Norwegian Bay, Eastern Arctic

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