Gerald Gladstone
Encyclopedia
Gerald Gladstone was a Canadian sculptor and painter
. Born in Toronto
, Canada
, as a child Gladstone was as committed to music as he was to painting, teaching himself to play the clarinet
and forming a jazz band.
, Gordon Rayner, Graham Coughtry, and Tony Urquhart
. In 1959, he received his first Canada Council
of the Arts grant, relocated to London, England. He studied at the Royal College of Art
where he met and befriended the British sculptor Henry Moore
. As a result of Moore's influence, Gladstone began a long period of experimentation with figurative
sculpture.
In 1967, Gladstone received three commissions for Montreal
's Expo 67
, but several years later he was struggling to find work. There was an exhibition of his mid- to late-career plastic cube sculptures and his Downtown Nudes Series - a collection of oils on canvas - at the opening exhibition of Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
, and in 1973 he produced the Electric Figure Series, another collection of oils on canvas. Among his late-career commissions were the Three Graces, a fountain and bronze sculpture for the Ontario government buildings, Female Landscape, a fountain and bronze sculpture at Montreal
's Place Ville Marie, Optical Galaxy Sculpture, a fountain and sculpture in Belconnen
, Australia
, and a fountain and precast concrete sculpture for a Martin Luther King memorial in California
.
are made by Gladstone.
Gladstone was given a retrospective by the Art Gallery of Ontario
in 2003, and he died on March 7, 2005.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Born in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, as a child Gladstone was as committed to music as he was to painting, teaching himself to play the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and forming a jazz band.
Biography
Gladstone was a member of the group of artists exhibited by Toronto gallery owner Av Isaacs in the 1950s. The group included artists such as Michael SnowMichael Snow
Michael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
, Gordon Rayner, Graham Coughtry, and Tony Urquhart
Tony Urquhart
Anthony Morse Urquhart is a Canadian painter.He was born in 1934 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. He attended Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, from 1953 to 1958. He was also elected to study art at the Yale Summer School in 1958.He began his exhibiting...
. In 1959, he received his first Canada Council
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
of the Arts grant, relocated to London, England. He studied at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
where he met and befriended the British sculptor Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
. As a result of Moore's influence, Gladstone began a long period of experimentation with figurative
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
sculpture.
In 1967, Gladstone received three commissions for Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
, but several years later he was struggling to find work. There was an exhibition of his mid- to late-career plastic cube sculptures and his Downtown Nudes Series - a collection of oils on canvas - at the opening exhibition of Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
The St Lawrence Centre for the Arts is a performing arts theatre complex located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Front Street one block east of Yonge Street, it was Toronto's official centennial project, commemorating the 1967 Canadian Centennial...
, and in 1973 he produced the Electric Figure Series, another collection of oils on canvas. Among his late-career commissions were the Three Graces, a fountain and bronze sculpture for the Ontario government buildings, Female Landscape, a fountain and bronze sculpture at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's Place Ville Marie, Optical Galaxy Sculpture, a fountain and sculpture in Belconnen
Belconnen
Belconnen is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 25 suburbs with 29,900 dwellings housing 82,247 people of the 311,518 people in the Australian Capital Territory ....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and a fountain and precast concrete sculpture for a Martin Luther King memorial in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
La Ronde Montréal Québec Canada
The big scultures in the entrance of La RondeLa Ronde (amusement park)
La Ronde is an amusement park in Montreal, owned and operated by Six Flags. It is the largest in the province of Quebec and the second largest in Canada after Canada's Wonderland, with about 2.5 million guests in 2006...
are made by Gladstone.
Gladstone was given a retrospective by the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
in 2003, and he died on March 7, 2005.
Selected collections
- National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
- Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
External links
- Artnet.com (Gerald Gladstone)
- National Gallery of Canada (Gerald Gladstone)
- Toronto Sculpture - Virtual Gallery (Gerald Gladstone)