Harold Town, O.S.A., R.C.A. (1924-1990)

Harold Town (June 13, 1924 - December 27, 1990) was an abstract painter and one of the most widely exhibited artists in Canada. He is best known as a founding member of the Painters Eleven, having coined the term for this artistic group himself. The name refers to the eleven Abstract Expressionist artists who banded together in Toronto between 1953 and 1960: Tom Hodgson, Jack Bush, William Ronald, Alexandra Luke, Oscar Cahén, Jock MacDonald, Ray Mead, Hortense Gordon, Walter Yarwood, Kazuo Nakamura and, of course, Harold Town.

Harold Town attended the Ontario College of Art and graduated in 1945. Preceeding his career in painting, Harold Town had an established career as a commercial illustrator. He was employed by ad agencies and magazines such as Macleans, Mayfair and the Imperial Oil Review. Under the instruction and encouragement of his artistic mentors, Oscar Cahén and Albert Franck, Harold Town began to create and exhibit his artwork. He drew his inspiration from visiting cultural institutions in Toronto, such as the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Royal Ontario Museum.

It was ultimately Harold Town's skill as a printmaker that garnered him the recognition he deserved. He developed a form of monotype in 1953, which he called "single autographic prints" (or SAPs). Each SAP was an original and unique work of art that revealed his true skill in printmaking. Harold Town would create vivid colours and shapes through overlaying inks, sometimes using art materials to add dimension and texture to his pieces. His SAPs were discovered by the National Gallery of Canada, who requested to have Harold Town represent Canada in the 28th Venice Biennale in 1956.

Harold Town's participation in the Painters Eleven also helped to bring his artwork to the centrefold of the Canadian art scene. The group's first exhibition took place at the Roberts Gallery in Toronto in 1954. Their efforts helped popularize the new style of Abstract Expressionism, which was slowly edging its way into Canada in the late 1950's from New York. By 1960, Harold Town's career took off as he became internationally recognized for his monumental compositions and unpredictable use of acid colours. His talent and dedication to art was shown through his ability to work with a variety of materials, colours and subject matters in sculpture, printmaking, drawing and painting. He continued painting up until a few months before his untimely death from cancer in 1990 at the age of 60.

"He was a celebrity in Canada, quick-witted, quotable, funny, and delightfully unpredictable. He wrote with wicked virtuosity, and had opinions on everything. His bigger-than-life presence permeated Toronto at the time...Town moved from one medium and studio to another with casual ease, and what I again noted particularly, having spent a lot of time dropping in, was that he had, more than any other artist I know, an ability simply to dive into his work without a second of hesitation. With tools always at the ready, his mind sprinting off the start line, his eye unerring, and his hand capable of extraordinary dexterity, he worked with a wolfish sort of glee"

- David P. Silcox, Executor for the Estate of Harold Town, 2003

Harold Town's work is included in Canadian and American art institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and other leading international galleries.