On Saturday we visited the Art Gallery of Ontario for the Alex Colville retrospective. Colville died last year at the age of 92 after spending most of his life in Nova Scotia painting what some might desribe as the mundane realities of everyday life. There is actually an ominous quality to many of Colville's pieces, as though something scary is just over the horizon. There are four Colville paintings in The Shining, a scary film to be sure.
The painting above features a plain little clapboard United Church like so many in the Maritmes, but the galloping horse was inspired by John F. Kennedy's black steed which walked, riderless in his funeral procession.
The painting above features a plain little clapboard United Church like so many in the Maritmes, but the galloping horse was inspired by John F. Kennedy's black steed which walked, riderless in his funeral procession.
Colville was married to wife Rhoda for seventy years and she was his muse and soulmate. They married in 1942 as he was heading off to war as a 22-year-old. He painted her naked many times a role she didn't like all that much but she admitted that she did it because she was too jealous to let him paint other women without their clothes on. There was a touching interview with a daughter in which she recounted a conversation in their living room. Rhoda told Alex she loved him. He responded, saying that he loved her, "it's the one big fact of my life." After she died he lasted only a few months.
Colville was a war artist in WWII and was sent to document the horrors of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. He admitted his guilt at becoming numbed to the volume of corpses, as though the mind simply can't process the scale of violence and destruction. I had to wonder whether those experiences of war influenced the tenor of Colville's work for the rest of his life. He saw the extraordinary capacity of humans for cruelty and destruction first-hand. Colville loved animals and saw them as angelic(his term,) incapable of the heartlessness of humans.Good and evil are underlying forces in his painting in ways that weren't immediately apparent. Love and fidelity in the midst of daily life are also important themes.
I wasn't sure that I wanted to see this exhibit because I find Colville's work to be rather sterile. I'm glad we went because I came away with a very different perspective on his painting and his relationships.
Have you been to this exhibit? Are you intrigued to learn more about Colville?
I wasn't sure that I wanted to see this exhibit because I find Colville's work to be rather sterile. I'm glad we went because I came away with a very different perspective on his painting and his relationships.
Have you been to this exhibit? Are you intrigued to learn more about Colville?
Hi David - Interested in reading about your impressions of the Colville exhibit! I attended last Friday with some fellow MountA grads/Maritimers....of course we were wowed...no surprise there!
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is an element of sterility but I prefer to call it perfectionism. Unlike Christopher Pratt, there is also an element of sensitivity (important to me) and often a surprise/shock all of which is thought-provoking. Colville went off to war at such a young age, and was profoundly affected by it....hence (to quote your blog) his awareness of the negative side of human nature. Appropriately some of these works hang in the Canadian War Museum.
I was pleased to see a Mary Pratt included - she was a student of Colville's along with Christopher Pratt. Unlike the Pratts, Rhoda did not go on to have a career of her own.
There is a wonderful story of Rhoda hosting a women's church group in her living room, with a nude painting of herself hanging in the background!
There is a wonderful "tale" of Rhoda
I loved it! Wonderful show. I really admired Colville's work, not sure if I would want one hanging in my living room, but he is a master. Janet - I really like Mary Pratt's work, I once drove out to Lethbridge just to see a show of hers. Am in England right now for a few weeks, there is a show on in The Norfolk Broads, about the swan migration. Hope to see some great stuff. I will wander around the art shows and towns , when my husband is out taking pictures of the swans for his blog.190
ReplyDeleteGreat, two "been there, seen that" responses. Interesting that both of you mention Mary Pratt. Ruth mentioned Pratt as we were talking later about the Colville retrospective. We both enjoyed the Mary Pratt exhibit at the McMichael Gallery earlier this year. Thanks for your insights.
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