Harold Town: The Wild One // Part I: On-line Launch
April 25 - May 20, 2020
Part I - Online Release & preliminary Launch
Part II - Opening reception (in gallery): to be determined
Harold Town was renowned for his fiery personality and his insatiable need to paint and create art. Founder of the Painters Eleven, Town made a mark on Canadian history. This exhibition will reveal his abilities as a master draftsman with his meticulous abilities to draw and yet his ability to create ‘outside the box’ and unveil a new dimension to his art-making career and abilities; a true creator and artist through and through.
Catalogue available HERE
Videos
This Exhibition is by Harold Town. Entitled “The Wild One”. This exhibition provides a fascinating overview of Town’s talents, showcasing some of his most well-known series, including prints, paintings and collages. Harold Town was a controversial painter, and was a central figure in Painters Eleven, the Toronto collective that introduced abstract art to Canada in the 1950s. More...
For the “Snaps” series in the early 1970s, Town developed a technique of snapping a paint-soaked string against the canvas – a time-consuming and physically strenuous process based on the snapping of a carpenter’s chalk line. These paintings are particularly captivating with their vivid texture, depth and colour.
Among the highlights is a large selection of “Single Autographic Prints,” the pieces for which Harold first gained renown in the 1950s. Colourful, delicate and one-of-a-kind, these monographic prints were exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and 1964, and several were acquired by the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They became the initial cornerstone of Town’s success at home and abroad.
In the late 1960s, Town explored abstract expressionism with large-format paintings, featuring dramatic compositions of space and colour. His work was an always-expanding exploration of the various facets of his artistic vision.
As David Silcox points out, “Harold was a remarkably intelligent, original and imaginative. His energy was boundless. It is no surprise that people envied his productivity and his ability to work in several different media at the same time. It is now possible to see clearly how high the level of Town’s talent was, right from the time of his emergence. Today we have an exciting opportunity to introduce Harold Town’s genius to a new generation.”
There is also an on-line catalogue available on the exhibition that can be viewed here: https://issuu.com/wallacegalleries/docs/townexhibition2020-v1
Artist Information
Harold Town
1924 - 1990
OC, RCA
Price range: $1500-$110,000
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
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1952 Canadian Abstract Exhibition, Adelaide House, YWCA, Oshawa ON
1954 Painters 11, Roberts Gallery, Toronto ON + Robertson Galleries, Ottawa, ON
Drawings and Graphics 1947 - 1954 (Kazuo Nakamura, Harold Town, Oscar Cahen), Eglinton Gallery, Toronto ON
1955 Painters 11, Roberts Gallery, Toronto + Adelaide House YWCA, Oshawa ON
Painters 11 Exhibition, St. Catherine’s Public Library and Art Gallery
1956 Small Pictures by Painters 11, Roberts Gallery, Toronto
20th Annual Exhibition of American Abstract Artists with ‘Painters Eleven’ of Canada, Riverside Museum, New York
Painters Eleven Small Originals, Pauline’s Giftland, Oshawa ON
Painters Eleven, Arts & Letters Club, Toronto ON
Canadian Abstract Painting, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Four Canadians: Alexander Millar, William Ronald, Gentile Tondino, Harold Town, Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto ON
Canadian National Exhibition, Fine Art Gallery, Toronto, ON
1957 Painters Eleven 1957, The Park Gallery, Toronto ON
Contemporary Canadian Painters, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
Triennial de Milano, Milan, Italy
IV Bienal, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil
1958 Painters Eleven 1958, Ecole de Beaux-Arts, Montreal QC
Painters Eleven, The Alan Gallery, Hamilton ON
Contemporary Art in Canada, Canadian Pavilion, Universal and International Exhibition, Brussels; touring Europe
Art in Canada: A Canadian Portfolio, Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, Texas
v Mostra Internazionale di Bianco e Nero, Lugano, Switzerland
First Biennale of Inter-American Painting, Grabado, Mexico
Two Canadian Painters: Paul-Emile Borduas and Harold Town, Arthur Tooth and Sons Ltd., London, England
1958-59 Painters Eleven. Toured by National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, to 7 national venues
Painters Eleven with Ten Distinguished Artists from Quebec, The Park Gallery, Toronto ON
1959 20th Biennial International Watercolor Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Ille exposition internationale de gravure, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
Savremena kanadska grafika, Belgrade and Ljubljana, Yugolslavia
1960 Painters Eleven, The Stable Gallery, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal QC
Painters Eleven Exhibition, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener ON
1961 Toronto ‘61, Toronto Board of Education; touring 4 North American venues
1962 VI Bienal, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil
International Exhibition, Tunisian Artists Association, Tunis
3rd International Exhibition of Prints, Tokyo, Japan
1963 Mixed Media and Pop Art, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo NY
Arte de America y Espana, Instituto de Cultura Hispanica, Madrid, Spain
Recent Acquisitions, Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Fifteen Canadian Artists, MMFA ART, International Council, New York; touring the US
1964 Primera Bienal Americana de Grabado, Lima, Peru
Documenta III, INternationale Ausstellung, Museum Fredericianum, Kassel, West Germany
1965 Eros 65, Dorothy Cameron Gallery, Toronto ON
1966 1e Biennale International de la Gracure, Cracow, Poland
1967 Three Hundred Years of Canadian Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa ON
Painting in Canada, Canadian Government Pavilion, Expo ‘67, Montreal QC
Contemporary Canadian Prints and Drawings in Australia 1967 - 1968, Organized by National Gallery of Canada; touring Australia
1968 The Alexandra Luke Collection, Art Gallery of Oshawa, ON
Canada 101, the Second Edinburgh Hundred, Edinburgh School of Art, Scotland
1970 Canadian Pavilion, Expo 70, Osaka, Japan
1971 Painters Eleven: 1953-1960, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
1972 Painters Eleven 1953 - 1959, Parts A and B, Toured by The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa to 5 venues
Toronto Painting 1953 - 1965, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Art Gallery of Ottawa
1975 Painters Eleven, the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery and Museum of Fine Art, Owen Sound; Sudbury Arts Festival Spectrum ‘75, Rothmans Centre, Sudbury ON
1976 Painters Eleven, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener ON
1978 Painters Eleven: 25 Years, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
1979 Painters Eleven, Rodman Hall Arts Centre, St. Catherines ON
Painters Eleven in Retrospect, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
1984 Painters Eleven, Cambridge Library and Art Gallery, Cambridge ON
Art Expo: Painters Eleven, Metro Convention Centre, Toronto ON
1992 Origins of Abstractions in Ontario: The Abstracts at Home Show, 1953, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
1994 The Canadian Painters Eleven (1953-1960) from the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, touring 2 American venues
1995 Painters Eleven: Welcome Home, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON
1997 Canadian Collage, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON
1998 The Four Seasons, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ON
1999 Painters Eleven: Commemorative Exhibition, Toronto, ON
2003 Painters Eleven - Selected Works, Theilsen Gallery, London ON
2007 Painters Eleven Exhibition, Thielsen Gallery, London ON
2009 Eleven in Motion: Abstract Expressions in Animation, Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto, ON
2011 Paint by Numbers: Painters Eleven, Museum London, London ON
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
Harold Town: “The Wild One” Solo Exhibition e-Catalog 2020
HAROLD TOWN: THE WILD ONE
APRIL 25 - MAY 20, 2020
Harold Town was renowned for his fiery personality and his insatiable need to paint and create art. Founder of the Painters Eleven, Town made a mark on Canadian history. This exhibition will reveal his abilities as a master draftsman with his meticulous abilities to draw and yet his ability to create ‘outside the box’ and unveil a new dimension to his art-making career and abilities; a true creator and artist through and through.
Over the years, Town represented Canada in exhibitions in Amsterdam, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Edinburgh, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tokyo, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw and Washington. He proved that Canada could produce innovative art that is relevant on the international stage, and he brought a new level of confidence and sophistication to the Canadian art scene. – Warren Dunford
To view the on-line catalogue now click HERE
In this short interview with CKUA’s Grant Stovel we talk about the importance of Harold Town and a bit about the artist and the movement of the time.
Click HERE for the interview.