Alex Colville - Family and Rainstorm

Alex Colville (1925-    ) - Family and Rainstorm (Nova Scotia) (1955)

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Colvillewas a Canadian painter who emerged after WWII from the East Canadian provinces, depicting the naturalism and everyday life of post WWII democracy.  In this painting, the individuals are starkly depicted with clean lines in a pleasant environment.  However, I see some sense of foreboding or gloom - the clouds are dark on the horizon and the metallic industrial frame of the car door are centrally placed in this painting.  The people do not communicate with the audience.


This was one of 12 paintings that were depicted on 1982 Canada Day stamps - all ten provinces and 2 territories of Canada were represented - this painting is from Nova Scotia

Molly Joan Lamb Bobak - Tea Hill

Molly Joan Lamb Bobak (1922-    ) - Tea Hill 

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982

Holland College School of Visual Arts

Molly Joan Bobak was appointed as a war artist in 1945, being the only woman to do so.  Her father was one of the Group of Seven Canadian artists.  


This is one of twelve Canada Day stamps from 1982 that depicted artworks from each of Canada's provinces and territories.  This paint depicts a warm summer's afternoon on Prince Edward Island.  The artist was known for painting ordinary events, particularly scenes of peaceful social interaction in the landscape. 

Adrian Hebert - Street Scene, Quebec

Adrien Hébert (1890-1967), "Scène de rue, Montréal" (1933) 

Canada Stamp issued 1982 for Canada Day

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec, Quebec

Hebert portrayed urban life in the Montreal area over the 1930s and 1940s.  Many of his paintings depicted the Port Of Montreal, but when access was restricted in the second world war, he went to other urban locations, including locomotive workshops and railway stations.  

This painting has an interesting perspective - the street is very busy, but somewhat gloomy in the midst of the Canadian winter.  We are drawn into a small piece of a much larger city that sits outside the frame of the painting.

Christpoher Pratt - Breakwater

Christpoher Pratt (1935-    ) - Breakwater (1976) 

Canada 30c Stamp issued 1982 

National Gallery of Canada

This modern work was depicted on a Canadian stamp only 6 years after the painting was completed.  The artist is known for depictions of the Newfoundland landscape where he lives. Maritime, architecture and roadside scenes are common in his works.


This painting has a very timeless quality to it - the scene could well be imaginary.  Although the colours of the landscape are appealing, the modern style buildings are drab, with very few redeeming features, despite the light clean lines on the horizon.

Alexander Jackson - Yukon Territory Highway Near Kluane Lake

Alexander Jackson (1882-1974) - Yukon Territory Highway Near Kluane Lake (1943)

Canada Stamp issued 1982
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Jackson, one of the founding members of  Canada's Group of Seven artists, was firstly a commercial artist in Chicago before he headed off to Paris to study Impressionist painting.  He traveled widely during his career, and primarily gained famed through his depictions of the Canadian landscape.   Yukon is depicted in full beuaty, but it is somewhat lonely and desolate at the same time.


This stamp was one of 12 modern art paintings that were depicted on Canada Day in 1982.  The stamps cover the ten provinces and 2 territories that make up Canada.  Rather ironically, A. Y. Jackson's work was used in this stamp issue, even though he made a prediction in 1946 that Canada would become part of the United States by 1971.  (Refer to news story here.)

Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees

Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees (1885)

Canadian 17c Stamp Issued 1980 Canada

This painting depicts some of the difficulties of life experienced by people in isolated areas of Canada in the late 19th Century.  School teacher Kate Henderson is having a confrontation with the local school trustee board in a local school on Prince Edward Island in Canada.  

Robert Harris, a Canadian artist immortalised this event which has come to represent part of Canadian folklore - it shows some of the difficulties encountered when trying to live in isolated communities.  This artist also painted "The Fathers of Confederation", the original painting that depicted the conference that settled the basics of a union of the British North American Provinces (i.e. Canada). 

Marc-Aurele Fortin - A La Baie Saint Paul

Marc-Aurele Fortin (1888-1970)  - A La Baie Saint Paul (1939)

Canada 17c Stamp Issued 1981

Fortin experimented with a marge number of mediums during his lifetime, and he was not popular amongst his contemporaries during his career.  The artist spent much of his time working in solitude, although he did study in France in the 1930s.  He is mainly known for his bright watercolours that depicted Quebec in a new and modern style, even though many of his works depicted traditional rural scenes.

Lucius O'Brien - Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity

Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity   1880 - Lucuis O'Brien (1832-1899)

Canadian Stamp issued 1980

From the National Gallery of Canada

This painting depicts a scene where nature is huge in comparison to people in the landscape.  O'Brien painted many scenes of Canada in the 19th Century, mainly in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.  His skillfully manipulates light in many of his works- the landscapes often have a hint of the surreal.

The stamp is one of three that were issued to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Academy of Arts in Canada.

Thomas Fuller - Design for Parliament Buildings, Ottawa

Thomas Fuller (1822-1898) - Design for Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, 1859

Canadian 35c Stamp Issued 1980 Canada

Royal Academy of Arts Issue

This stamp was part of a series to celebrate the centenary of the Royal Academy of Arts for Canada.  Thomas Fuller sketched this drawing, but he is more famous for his work as a architect in Canada - he designed the Parliament Buildings for Canada, which were occupied from 1865 to 1915, before being destroyed by fire - this was originally suspected to be a German plot, according to Australian newspapers at the time: 

Extract from The Argus, Feb 5, 1916:

FIRE AT OTTAWA - PARLIAMENT HOUSE BURNING.

German Plot Suspected.

News reached London from Ottawa at an early hour this morning that the Dominion House of Parliament was on fire.

The library has been destroyed, and the fire at latest was still defying the efforts of the firemen to control it.

Two explosions were heard after the outbreak was observed. It is suspected that the fire is the result of a German plot.

Mr. Martin Burrell, Minister for Agriculture, sustained burns on the hands and face.

Paul-Emile Borduas - Untitled No. 6

Paul-Emile Borduas (1905-1960) - Untitled No. 6 

Canada 35c Stamp issued 1981

Museum of Contemporary Art - Montreal Canada

Borduas was the leader of the Automatiste group of artists in Montreal Canada that became prominent in the 1940s.  These artists supported the theory of surrealist automatism - this the the type of "automatic" drawing that is developed when you do not impose self-censorship during the drawing process.  Montreal was a conservative place at that time, and Borduas eventually moved to New York City and Paris in the 1950s before his untimely death in 1960 from a heart attack.

1998 Time Article on Borduas and the Automatists

Frederick Varley - Self Portrait

Frederick Varley (1881-1969) - Self Portrait

Canada 17c Stamp issued 1981

Painting completed c. 1945

Varley was born in England but emigrated to Canada and was one of the "Group of Seven" painters.  He was critical of disapproved of extreme forms of abstract art as being untrue to nature and he was critical of Picasso, accusing him of "tearing the world apart" in his work.  

The Group of Seven artists worked in the early parts of the 20th Century to establish a distinct Canadian style of art that recognised the unique landscapes and challenges that were different to the European traditions.  This can be compared also to Heidelberg School in Australia that also manifested itself around the unique landscapes in the southern continent.

This is the first of three Canadian Stamp paintings that were issued in 1981.