(1905-1989)
The prairies's first native-born professional artist, Buck Kerr's
vivid portrayals of western landscapes and his influence as a
renowned teacher made him a pioneer in the development of visual
arts in Alberta.
Born in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, Kerr studied at the Ontario
College of Art, Toronto (1924-27), with several members of the
Group of Seven, and at the New Westminster School of Art, London,
England (1936). In 1945-46, he taught at the Vancouver School of
Art. From 1947-67, he was the head of the Art Department at
Alberta's Provincial Institute of Technology and Art, which under
his guidance evolved from a small department with one full-time
teacher (Stan Perrott) to the Alberta College of Art, one of
Canada's best art schools, offering a four year course in all
departments. Perrott observed, "He was a tower of strength in
Alberta... The painters of Alberta today may not paint like Buck
Kerr- but they are his children. They all caught his spirit. He was
the central reference point for artistic morality and dynamic
living."
Kerr's second greatest interest was writing. In the early 1930's
he wrote short stories for Blackwood's magazine of Edinburgh. His
1946 illustrated book of stories about life on the prairies, "Gay
Dogs and Dark Horses", was short-listed for the Stephen Leacock
Medal for Humour. His autobiography, "Paint and Circumstance" was
published in 1987.
Above all, Kerr was a great artist, working for over 60 years in
various styles and mediums. He produced abstract expressionist
canvasses, official state portraits of lieutenant-governors and
premiers, and linocuts and ink drawings of animals. However, he was
best known for his prairie and foothills landscapes. Fellow artist
and friend John Snow stated, "I liked his work, its absolute
honesty. It was straightforward and no-nonsense. He had such a fine
sense of colour and such a knowledge of prairie landscape. He knew
it from working it on trap-lines. But what I think set him apart
most was his ability to look at landscape and think of it in
abstract themes of volume, space and colour, to create more
abstract designs without losing the form and contour of the
land."
Illingworth Kerr lived to paint. When a stroke in December 1988
left him without the vision necessary to paint, he fatally shot
himself on January 6, 1989. In his will, he asked his executors to
throw a party for his friends. Close to 500 people gathered at the
Alberta College of Art to say their good-byes. He is commemorated
by the Illingworth Kerr Gallery at the A.C.A.
Kerr was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of
Calgary, Calgary, 1973; the National Award for Painting and Related
Arts, the University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1975; and the Order of
Canada in 1983.
He became a member of the Alberta Society of Artists in 1947 and
was Vice-President in 1951-52 and President in 1952-53. He was a
Calgary correspondent for the A.S.A. Highlights in 1956 and
Assistant Editor in 1957. He became a member of the Royal Canadian
Academy in 1974.
Kerr had many solo and two-person shows; he held retrospective
exhibitions in 1940, 1962, 1975 and 1985. Collections containing
his paintings include the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the
Alberta Foundations for the Arts, Edmonton; the Glenbow-Alberta
Institute, Calgary; the University of Calgary, Calgary; Alberta
College of Art, Calgary; Saskatoon Art Gallery, Saskatoon; the
Norman Mackenzie Gallery, Regina; the McMichael Canadian
Collection, Klienburg, Ontario; Memorial University, St.John's,
Newfoundland; and many corporate and private collections across
Canada.