A Digital Exhibit of Fine Art by Canadian Artists
A Digital Exhibit of Fine Art by Canadian Artists
W.J. PHILLIPS
Walter Joseph Phillips (1884 – 1963) was an English-born Canadian painter and printmaker. He is credited with popularizing the Japanese-style colour woodcut in Canada.
Born in Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, England, Phillips attended the Birmingham School of Art, also studying abroad in South Africa and Paris. After graduating, he worked as a commercial artist in England. In 1913 he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he lived for more than 28 years, before eventually settling in Victoria, British Columbia.
Phillips is famous for his woodcuts and watercolour paintings. His artistic career spanned from the 1900s through the 1940s, during which time his work was exhibited throughout North America and Great Britain. Common subjects for Phillips included the lakes of Manitoba—York Boat on Lake Winnipeg (1930) is a well-known print—the prairies, and in his later years, the Rocky Mountains.
In 1940 he became a resident artist at the Banff Centre, then known as the Banff School of Fine Arts, where he played an important role in the development of their visual arts program. Its Walter Phillips Gallery, which focuses on contemporary art, is named for him. The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta holds an extensive collection of Phillips works and a research archive.
A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Phillips has earned international acclaim. In 1997 Canada Post issued ‘York Boat on Lake Winnipeg, 1930, Walter J. Phillips’ in the Masterpieces of Canadian art series. The stamp was designed by Pierre-Yves Pelletier based on a woodcut “York Boat on Lake Winnipeg” (1930) by Phillips in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The 90¢ stamps are perforated 12.5 X 13 and were printed by Ashton-Potter Canada Limited.
Walter J. Phillips is recognised today as a master of the watercolour and the woodblock print medium. His work is eagerly collected, and housed in galleries across Canada, including The National Gallery of Canada, The Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies as well as collections abroad in London, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Japan, as well as many private collections. The most extensive private collection of Phillips was gifted to the city of Winnipeg and is permanently housed in the Pavilion Gallery Museum in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park. The Crabb collection is available for public viewing year round.
For more information, as well as other works by the artist, lochgallery.com
W.J. PHILLIPS
Walter Joseph Phillips (1884 – 1963) was an English-Canadian painter and printmaker. He is credited with popularizing the Japanese-style colour woodcut in Canada.
Born in Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire, England, Phillips attended the Birmingham School of Art, also studying abroad in South Africa and Paris. After graduating, he worked as a commercial artist in England. In 1913 he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he lived for more than 28 years, before eventually settling in Victoria, British Columbia.
Phillips is famous for his woodcuts and watercolour paintings. His artistic career spanned from the 1900s through the 1940s, during which time his work was exhibited throughout North America and Great Britain. Common subjects for Phillips included the lakes of Manitoba—York Boat on Lake Winnipeg (1930) is a well-known print—the prairies, and in his later years, the Rocky Mountains.
In 1940 he became a resident artist at the Banff Centre, then known as the Banff School of Fine Arts, where he played an important role in the development of their visual arts program. Its Walter Phillips Gallery, which focuses on contemporary art, is named for him. The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta holds an extensive collection of Phillips works and a research archive.
A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Phillips has earned international acclaim. In 1997 Canada Post issued ‘York Boat on Lake Winnipeg, 1930, Walter J. Phillips’ in the Masterpieces of Canadian art series. The stamp was designed by Pierre-Yves Pelletier based on a woodcut “York Boat on Lake Winnipeg” (1930) by Phillips in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The 90¢ stamps are perforated 12.5 X 13 and were printed by Ashton-Potter Canada Limited.
Walter J. Phillips is recognised today as a master of the watercolour and the woodblock print medium. His work is eagerly collected, and housed in galleries across Canada, including The National Gallery of Canada, The Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies as well as collections abroad in London, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Japan, as well as many private collections. The most extensive private collection of Phillips was gifted to the city of Winnipeg and is permanently housed in the Pavilion Gallery Museum in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park. The Crabb collection is available for public viewing year round.
For more information, as well as other works by the artist, lochgallery.com
The Empress Hotel
