- Paterson Ewen
Paterson Ewen (1925-2002) (variant name William Paterson Ewen) was an important
Canadian painter, born in 1925 inMontreal ,Quebec . He attendedMcGill University from 1946-47 where he studied geology, and fine arts withJohn Lyman . From 1948-50 he took classes at the School of Art and Design at theMontreal Museum of Fine Arts , studying underGoodridge Roberts ,Arthur Lismer , William Armstrong, andJacques de Tonnancour .His earliest works of the late 1940s reveal a range of interests and, particularly, the influence of
Goodridge Roberts . By the mid 1950s, he had begun a 16-year exploration of abstraction, at first with gestural and then, by 1964, with geometric forms loosely related to hard-edge painting. While in Montreal, he was tangentially connected to the artists of theAutomatiste movement (seeJean-Paul Riopelle andPaul-Émile Borduas ), and became a member of the Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal, founded in 1956.In 1968, Ewen moved to
London, Ontario where he taught at the Visual Arts Department of theUniversity of Western Ontario from 1972 to 1988. Ewen began a new stage in his artistic career in 1971 when his working method and imagery changed dramatically. He started working on plywood instead of canvas, using a router to gouge out powerful images of earthbound and celestial phenomena. Ewen's career was often fragmented by over-archingpsychiatric problems andalcoholism . He suffered from severemanic depression and was plagued by poor mental health until his death in 2002. Despite these challenges, Ewen was able to produce an incredibly diverse and influential body of work.Paterson Ewen is represented in major museums and public galleries throughout Canada.
Selected exhibitions
* 2000: "Palazzo Grassi", Venice: "Cosmos: From Goya to De Chirico, From Friedrich to Kiefer"
* 1996: "Art Gallery of Ontario", Toronto: "Ewen: Earthly Weathers, Heavenly Skies" (major retrospective)
* 1982: "Venice Biennale"Selected collections
* "National Gallery of Canada", Ottawa
* "Art Gallery of Ontario", Toronto
* "Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
* "Montreal Museum of Fine Arts"
* "Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art", Toronto
* "MIT List Visual Arts Center", Cambridge, Massachusetts=bition catalogue] . Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1987.
* "Paterson Ewen: Biennale di Venezia" [exhibition catalogue] . 1982.
* Teitelbaum, Matthew. "Paterson Ewen: The Montreal Years". Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery, 1988.
* Teitelbaum, Matthew (ed.). "Paterson Ewen". Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1996.External links
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011007 The Canadian Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/17422 Artfacts.net]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ewen_paterson.html Artcyclopedia]
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