Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Israel Young. Painter. Port au Port Peninsula, Newfoundland. Active late 20th century.
Isreal Young was a naive painter. Signed works by him are sometimes seen. He has been mentioned in Newfoundland Government publications. I have no dates or other information yet.
John Sharpe. Sculptor. Wood carver. Newfoundland. Active mid to late 20th century.
John Sharpe made quite elaborate carvings of scenes showing life in the out-ports of Newfoundland. From fisherman at work to their houses and yards. he used ‘as found’ materials and color. All of his carvings were fully painted and very detailed. (His dates and location are still uncertain.)
Harry Sullivan. Sculptor. Wood carver. Torbay, Newfoundland. Active late 20th century.
Harry Sullivan was a primitive artist and a maker of applied relief carvings. He worked with ‘as found’ materials and colors. He signed the reverse of his relief carvings with the name: ‘Harry’ and drew an outline of a man smoking a pipe. An example is shown below.
An applied relief carving by Harry Sullivan. An Out Port in Newfoundland:
Harry Sullivan. Torbay, NL. Applied Relief Carving.
The Reverse with his mark:
Harry Sullivan. Torbay NL. Reverse.
Two carvings by Harry Sullivan (mixed media):
Harry Sullivan. Torbay, Nfld.
The mark of the artist:
Harry Sullivan. Torbay, Nfld. The mark.
The Second carving:
Harry Sullivan. Torbay, Nfld.
The mark:
Harry Sullivan. Torbay, Nfld. The mark.
Phillip Melvin. Sculptor. Painter. Born: Lamanche, Newfoundland. Toronto. Vancouver. Active mid to late 20th century.
Philip Melvin worked principally with ‘as found’ materials. (Construction sites were a likely source of wood panels for his low relief carvings and paintings.) Often in trouble with the law; he spent time in prison and rehabilitation centres. He was often ‘on the street’ and would trade his work for food and drink. His art reflected people in society and on the news. Religion and politics were favorite subjects as was human foolishness. His pallet was ‘as found’ primary colors and his sense of humor was sharp and biting. His work is collected extensively in Museum and private collections.
He was shown in a 2000 Canadian Museum of Civilization Exhibition: “Under The Sign of the Cross: Creative Christianity in Canada.
Henry T. Snow. Sculptor. Woodcarver. Grand Falls, Newfoundland. Active 1970’s -1990’s.
Henry Thomas Snow was a fine and imaginative carver. He is best known for his carved and painted birds. He was an outsider artist rather that a realistic ‘from nature’ bird carver and his mounts were often quite dramatic as in the case of the Carved Woodpecker shown here. He generally signed his work on the base: “H. T. Snow” with his postal address. Henry Snow also was a flat-plane carver and a maker of carved figures. An example with his mark/label is shown below.
A Woodpecker by Henry Snow:
H.T. (Henry) Snow. Grand Falls, Newfoundland. Carving of a Pileated Woodpecker.
H.T. Snow. His mark:
H. T. Snow. His mark.
A Puffin by H. T. Snow: *
H. T. Snow. Grand Falls, NFLD. Carving of a Puffin.
A flat-plane carving of a man by Henry T. Snow:
H. T. Snow. Flat-plane carving of a man.
The Mark:
Henry Snow. His mark.
* With our thanks to Adrian Tinline
