- Mary Pratt
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Mary Pratt Birth name Mary Frances West Born March 15, 1935
Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaNationality Canadian Field Painting Training Mount Allison University Mary Frances Pratt, CC (née West) (born 15 March 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick) is a Canadian painter specializing in still life realist paintings.
She is the daughter of attorney William J. West, who served as the Minister of Justice of New Brunswick from 1952 to 1958 and Katherine West, she has one sister - Barbara. She attended Mount Allison University, studying Fine Arts under Alex Colville, Ted Pulford, and Lawren P. Harris. She graduated in 1961. She met her future husband, the artist Christopher Pratt, at Mount Allison. After the marriage, she moved with him to Newfoundland.[1]. They have four children, John, Anne, Barbara, and Edwin.
Her first solo exhibition was held at the Memorial University Art Gallery in St. John's in 1967. In 1996, she was named Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1995, the touring exhibition The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light was organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. The accompanying catalogue won numerous awards and was included in Great Canadian Books of the Century.[2] In 1997, she was awarded the Canadian Molson Prize from the Canada Council for $50 000.[3]
In 2007, Canada Post issued stamps in its "Art Canada" series in honour of Mary Pratt.[4] The $0.52 (domestic rate) stamp featured her Jelly Shelf (1999). The souvenir sheet included the $0.52 stamp, as well as a $1.55 (international rate) stamp with her Iceberg in the North Atlantic (1991).
Since the 1980s, Pratt has given addresses and published essays in periodicals such as The Globe and Mail and Glass Gazette. Her paintings have been exhibited in most major galleries in Canada, reproduced in magazines such as Saturday Night, Chatelaine, and Canadian Art, and featured on billboards, in cookbooks, and on the covers of books and magazines. Her paintings are featured in many prominent public, corporate, and private collections, including those of the National Gallery of Canada, The Rooms, and Canada House in England.[5]
Mary Pratt is currently based in St. John’s, where she continues to live and paint.
Mary Pratt's works include:
- The Back Porch (1966)
- Caplin (1969)
- Eviscerated Chickens (1971)
- Red Currant Jelly (1972)
- Amaryllis (1975)
References
- ^ CBC.ca - Life and Times
- ^ Smart, Tom. The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1995.
- ^ Canadacouncil.ca
- ^ Canadapost.ca
- ^ Smart, Tom. The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1995.
External links
Categories:- 1935 births
- Living people
- Canadian painters
- Companions of the Order of Canada
- People from Fredericton
- Mount Allison University alumni
- Canadian women artists
- Women painters
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