Painters Eleven

also: Painters 11

movement 1953-1960 Ontario Canada

Painters Eleven was a group of abstract artists active in Canada from 1953 to 1960 - the first abstract painting group in Ontario. William Ronald assembled the core after staging abstract art in store windows at Simpson's in Toronto, and Harold Town named the group; its eleven members spanned several generations and made their living as commercial artists and teachers. They shared no program beyond a commitment to abstraction, and their first exhibition at Roberts Gallery in 1954 met bewilderment. A 1956 show with the American Abstract Artists at New York's Riverside Museum and praise from Clement Greenberg in 1957 turned opinion, and by their third exhibition they had established abstract expressionism in Canada. Death (Oscar Cahén, 1956) and departures thinned the ranks, and the group disbanded in 1960, its members - above all Jack Bush - going on to international careers.

"Walter Yarwood was born in Toronto in 1917 and died in Hamilton, Ontario in 1996. He was largely self-taught. Yarwood originally worked as
"Walter Yarwood was born in Toronto in 1917 and died in Hamilton, Ontario in 1996. He was largely self-taught. Yarwood originally worked as CC BY 2.0 (credit: Shaun Merritt) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Rich, creamy impasto and impulsive, spontaneous line
  • Bold, saturated color and gestural abstraction, as in Ronald's 'central image' paintings
  • No house style: united only by a commitment to abstraction
  • Quiet, ordered abstraction and structural inquiry alongside the group's exuberance (Nakamura)

Key figures

  • Jack Bush (1909-1977) — The group's great colorist, later a major Colour Field painter
  • William Ronald (1926-1998) — Founder of the group, known for his 'central image' abstract paintings
  • Harold Town (1924-1990) — Painter and printmaker who named the group
  • Oscar Cahén (1916-1956) — Danish-born painter-illustrator, the group's artistic center of gravity
  • Jock Macdonald (1897-1960) — Veteran pioneer of Canadian abstraction and mentor to the group

Example works

  • Striped Column — Jack Bush (1964)
  • Chopsticks — Jack Bush (1977)

Sources

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