 Untitled #1, 1992 acrylic on paper, 22" × 30" |
 Untitled #2, 1992 acrylic on paper, 22" × 30" |
  Untitled #3, 1993 acrylic on paper, 22" × 30" |
 Dianna's Window oil on cotton canvas, 64" × 80" |
 The Green Hornet, 1997 acrylic on canvas, 20" × 20" |
 Aztec Figure, 1952 mixed media on masonite, 20" × 16" |
William Ronald, R.C.A. (1926-1998) – Artist Biography
William Ronald, R.C.A. (b: William Ronald Smith, August 13, 1926, Toronto, Ontario; d: February 9, 1998, Barrie, Ontario), was an important Canadian painter, best known as the founder of the influential Canadian abstract art group Painters Eleven in 1954.
Ronald was a graduate of the Ontario College of Art who quickly found that abstract painters could not get their work exhibited in Toronto galleries. Working for the Robert Simpson Co. department store, he persuaded management to pair abstract paintings with furniture displays, thereby discovering a way to get the public to accept non-representational art. Despite the success of the show, Ronald resented the city's general attitude toward its artists and moved to the United States, eventually becoming an American citizen. Ronald shared a studio with Frank Stella and joined the stable of artists at Manhattan's Kootz Gallery. He was quickly accepted by critics and collectors and enjoyed a multi-year period of success. Eventually, Ronald returned to Toronto, partly for personal reasons and partly because he could not agree with Kootz.
He continued to paint through the 1970s, '80s and '90s, moving to Montreal, Quebec, and then to Barrie, Ontario where he maintained an active studio. He gained some notoriety for his portrait series of Canadian Prime Ministers, a pioneering non-representational portrayal of heads of government opened by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Toronto.
Gallery Gevik Exhibitions
 |
Harold Town · Willaim Ronald · Jack MacDonald Members of Painters 11 October 16 to November 5, 2010 (image: Kite Flying) |