From the Author
My warm thanks to Shelley Town, John Reeves, David Silcox, and the many others who generously shared memories of Harold Town; to Sara Angel and Landon Mackenzie for encouragement and inspiration; to the helpful staff at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Library and Archives Canada; and to the outstanding editorial and web team at ACI, especially Rick Archbold and Meg Taylor, for the wonders they have performed.
From the Art Canada Institute
This online art book was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Major Sponsors for the 2014–15 Season: Aimia; BMO Financial Group; Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.; The Hal Jackman Foundation; Phyllis Lambert; The McLean Foundation; TD Bank Group; The Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts; Harold Town Estate.
Thanks also to the Art Canada Institute Founding Patrons: Sara and Michael Angel, Jalynn H. Bennett, The Butterfield Family Foundation, David and Vivian Campbell, Albert E. Cummings, Kiki and Ian Delaney, The Fleck Family, Roger and Kevin Garland, Michelle Koerner and Kevin Doyle, Phil Lind, Sarah and Tom Milroy, Charles Pachter, Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan, Sandra L. Simpson, and Robin and David Young; as well as its Founding Partner Patrons: The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Partners in Art.
The ACI gratefully acknowledges the support and assistance of the Harold Town Estate, in particular David Silcox, as well as the following institutions and individuals who generously provided images for our publication: Landon Mackenzie, the National Gallery of Canada, the Cahén Foundation, Lynda Shearer of Canadian Art Group, and our Institutional Sponsor for this title, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery.
Image Sources
Every effort has been made to secure permissions for all copyrighted material. The Art Canada Institute will gladly correct any errors or omissions.
Credit for Cover Image
Harold Town, Spengler Writing The Decline of the West atHis Desk on Top of the Kitchen Table, 1980. (See below for details.)
Credits for Banner Images
Biography: Harold Town in his home at 9 Castle Frank Crescent in 1964, photographed by John Reeves. (See below for details.)
Key Works: Harold Town, Silent Light No. 11, 1968–69. (See below for details.)
Significance & Critical Issues: Harold Town, Day Neon, 1953. (See below for details.)
Style & Technique: Harold Town, Music Behind, 1958–59. (See below for details.)
Sources & Resources: Harold Town in his office at his home in 1967, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, fonds 1405, series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Where to See: Harold Town at a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1986, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, fonds 1405, series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Credits for Works by Harold Town
Bacchante Threatened by a Panther, 1959. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Estate of Harold Town.
Day Neon, 1953. Collection of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Gift of the artist’s estate, 1994.
Death of Mondrian No. 1, 1961. Museum London. Estate of Harold Town.
The Dixon Passing Mugg’s Island, 1956. Estate of Harold Town.
Don Quixote, 1948. Collection of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Gift of the artist’s estate, 1994. Estate of Harold Town.
Drawing by Town in the comic book style, which appeared in his 1942 Western Technical-Commercial School yearbook. Library and Archives Canada, MG 30 D 404, vol. 1, Westward Ho. Western Technical Commercial School Yearbook, 1942. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by Gaeby Abrahams.
Enigma No. 9, 1964. Estate of Harold Town.
Festival, 1965. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Estate of Harold Town.
In Memory of Pearl McCarthy, 1964. Private collection. Estate of Harold Town.
Inoutscape, 1960. McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton. Gift of Mr. Irving Zucker, 1992. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by John Tamblyn.
Monument to C.T. Currelly No. 1, 1957. Vancouver Art Gallery. Purchased with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program. VAG 58.6. Estate of Harold Town. Photo: Rachel Topham, Vancouver Art Gallery.
Paper Monster (Memory of Chinatown), 1958. Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto. Estate of Harold Town.
Rudolf Valentino, 1971. Gallery Gevik, Toronto. Estate of Harold Town.
Seated Nude, 1944. Collection of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Gift of the artist’s estate, 1994. Estate of Harold Town.
Silent Light No. 11, 1968–69. Estate of Harold Town.
Snap No. 17, 1972–73. Christopher Cutts Gallery, Toronto. Estate of Harold Town.
Soldier Leading Horse, 1953. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Spengler Writing The Decline of the West at His Desk on Top of the Kitchen Table, 1980. Private collection. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Stages #8, 1986–87. Barb & Jens Thielsen, London, ON. Estate of Harold Town.
Toy Horse, 1980. Estate of Harold Town.
Toy Horse #184, 1979. Private collection. Estate of Harold Town.
Tree Zoo, 1957. Collection of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Purchase 1971. Estate of Harold Town.
Untitled (Crescent), 1961. Barb & Jens Thielsen, London, ON. Estate of Harold Town.
Credits for Photographs and Works by Other Artists
The Bacchanal of the Andrians, 1523–26, by Titian. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.
Brochure for Harold Town’s mural at the Ontario Hydro Generating Station on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Catalogue for the 1975 exhibition Indications:Harold Town, 1944–1975 (Windsor: Art Gallery of Windsor, 1975). Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Certificate presented to Town for his participation in the Milan Triennale, 1957. Library and Archives Canada, MG 30 D 404, vol. 57, Memorabilia, Awards and Degrees, 1943–1973, n.d. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by Gaeby Abrahams.
Cover for the Imperial Oil Review, 1954, designed by Harold Town. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library.
Cover of Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm by Harold Town and David P. Silcox (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977).
Cranes from Quick Lessons in Simplified Drawing, 1812, by Katsushika Hokusai. Collection unknown.
Flyer for the 1987 exhibition Town: Works on Paper, 1952–1987 at the Canada House Cultural Centre Gallery, London, England. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Harold Town and Janet Barker at an Art Gallery of Ontario reception in 1967, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town and Museum of Modern Art’s Riva Castleman select prints for Canada ’67, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town and Walter Yarwood in front of In Memory of Pearl McCarthy, 1964, photographed by John Reeves. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town featured in Maclean’s article “The Overnight Bull Market in Modern Art,” December 1961. Reprinted with the permission of Rogers Publishing.
Harold Town in front of his monumental St. Lawrence Seaway mural, 1958. From the brochure for the mural at the Ontario Hydro Generating Station. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Harold Town in his home at 9 Castle Frank Crescent in 1964, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town in his Old Orchard Farm studio in 1983, photographed by John Reeves. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town in his print workshop in 1957. Photo Jock Carroll.
Harold Town in his studio in 1967, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town on the cover of Maclean’s magazine, December 1961. Reprinted with the permission of Rogers Publishing.
Harold Town with his daughters Heather and Shelley in 1966, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
Harold Town with his mother, c. 1940. Courtesy of Shelley Town.
Harold Town with his paintings at the Mazelow Gallery in 1967, photographed by John Reeves. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1405, Series 796. Courtesy of John Reeves.
A Lady and Two Gentlemen, c. 1659, by Johannes Vermeer. Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, Germany.
Limited-edition facsimile book of Town’s Enigmas, sold at the Jerrold Morris International Gallery. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Maclean’s cover designed by Oscar Cahén, Town’s mentor. Reprinted with the permission of Rogers Publishing and the Oscar Cahén Foundation. Image courtesy of Leif Peng, Today’s Inspiration.
Manuscript page for Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm. Library and Archives Canada, MG 30 D 404, vol. 30, Tom Thomson Project, Research Material, 1973. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by Gaeby Abrahams.
Pamphlet for Harold Town’s exhibition at the Jordan Gallery in Toronto in 1959. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Poster for the 1973 exhibition Harold Town: The First Exhibition of New Work, 1969–1973 at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Courtesy of Toronto Reference Library. Photograph by Kayla Rocca.
Signal (Birthday Party), 2010–11, by Landon Mackenzie. Courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Scott Massey.
Town’s notebook containing ideas and questions about how the enduring value of art is established. Library and Archives Canada,
MG 30 D 404, vol. 34, Ideas, Drafts and Outlines Notebook, n.d. Estate of Harold Town. Photograph by Gaeby Abrahams.
Two works by Harold Town in the Aeroquay Lounge in the now demolished Terminal 1 (1964–2004) at Toronto International Airport. Collection of Transport Canada. Photo courtesy of Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
View of Toronto skyline from Mugg’s Island, 1907. Photograph by William James.
Art Canada Institute
Massey College, University of Toronto
4 Devonshire Place
Toronto, ON M5S 2E1
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Moray, Gerta, author
Harold Town : life & work / Gerta Moray.
Includes bibliographical references.
Contents: Biography — Key works — Significance & critical issues — Style & technique — Sources & resources — Where to see.
Electronic monograph.
ISBN 978-1-4871-0028-5 (pdf).—ISBN 978-1-4871-0030-8 (epub)
1. Town, Harold, 1924-1990. 2. Town, Harold, 1924-1990—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Painters—Canada—Biography. I. Art Canada Institute, issuing body II. Title.
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