by Clifton Bertram
R. York Wilson, considered by some authorities to be one of the three greatest muralists of all time, is most well-known to Canadians for his public works that adorn Imperial Oil, the O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts (now the Hummingbird Centre), Bell Canada, Queen's Park and Carleton University But Wilson was known to consider himself "first a painter, with a flair for murals."
Wilson turns out to have also been a notable figure in the development of modern art. Indeed, it is possible that his prodigious output more aptly chronicles modern art's evolution more effectively than any other Canadian artist.
In this, the first of a series of pieces highlighting the evolution of York Wilson's work, we will examine a point in his early career during which he painted some remarkable images of the Canadian north. These early paintings are among the least abstract and experimental of York Wilson's ouevre, being produced at a stage in his career when he was still highly influenced by his time as a commercial artist just ten years earlier, working with Group of Seven luminaries Franklin Carmichael and A.J. Casson.
In 1945, Wilson travelled to the prairies, the Hudson's Bay region, and the High Arctic, creating images that powerfully capturing both the unique qualities of winter light as well as the incredible effects created by a combination of swirling wind and snow. York Wilson's northern year resulted in paintings that manage to distil, in oil and canvas, an essential element of every Canadian's soul.
York Wilson paintings, from top to bottom: 46 Below, oil on canvas; Muskox Gnomes, oil on panel; Near Churchill, oil on canvas; Expedition Muskox, oil on panel, Snow Peaks, Hudson's Bay, oil on panel.
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