Canadian Folk Art and Outsider Art
Hugh Alexander. Painter. Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Active 1970- .
Hugh Alexander was a farmer in Saskatchewan. He painted naive scenes of life as a prairie farmer.
Ref: D. Thauberger. Grassroots Saskatchewan. Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery. 1976.
Ref:Blake McKendry, An Illustrated Companion to Canadian Folk Art (1999)
Ref:Kobayashi/Bird, A Compendium of Canadian Folk Artists (1985)
Harvey McInnes. Painter. Zealandia, Saskatchewan. (B. Cobden, Ont.) Active mid to late 20th century.
Harvey McInnes began painting seriously in 1965; experimenting with oil paints, pastels and coloured pencils. He painted pictures of life on the farm. In his words: “A lot of my pictures are made up just from scenery and things I remember from away back. Some of them I make entirely just using my imagination… I save small animal pictures sometimes and use them with my own makeup of scenery for a picture.” He is widely collected in Canada including the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
Ref: The SKNAC Web Site. (Saskatchewan Network for Art Collecting.) A useful site for Saskatchewan folk artists:
Levine Flexhaug. Painter. Climax, Saskatchewan. Active mid 20th century.
Known as ‘Flexie’ (he signed his work ‘Flexie’), Levine Flexhaug was an itinerant self-taught landscape painter. He painted on ‘Beaver Board’ with oil-based house paint and signed his work “Flexie’ with the date. His career was an interesting one. See below.
“An itinerant artist who turned out endless variations of essentially the same idyllic mountain-lake scene, Flexhaug made and sold his paintings on the spot in national parks, resorts, department stores, restaurants, and bars across western Canada from the late 1930s to the 1960s. Painting a landscape fantasy for a society that had been shaped by the Dust Bowl and Depression, he transformed a generic image into paintings of richness and surprising invention.” – from “A Sublime Vernacular – The Landscape Paintings of Levine Flexhaug”.
A sample of one of Levine Flexhaug’s landscape paintings:
Levine Flexhaug. Landscape with Moose.
His mark:
Levine Flexhaug. Landscape with Moose. His mark.
A link to two websites about Levine Flexhaug and his paintings:
http://canadianart.ca/features/the-curious-case-of-levine-flexhaug/
Fred Moulding. Sculptor. Wood carver. Regina, Saskatchewan. Active mid-20th century.
Born in England, he immigrated to Canada in 1912. He began carving in his sixties and in his works he depicted life in ruual Saskatchewan. He carved wagons, ploughs and every kind of horse-drawn farm equipment as well as animals seen in the region.
“……. to leave a legacy of his life for future generations.” Moulding exhibited his work throughout Saskatchewan, including the Susan Whitney Gallery and the Dunlop Gallery in Regina, and the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon. His work is part of several private collections, as well as the collections of the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa and the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec.
A link to a review of Fred Moulding’s work:
http://www.mendel.ca/forced_perspective/portfolio/fred-moulding/
A sculpture of a Horse Trainer by Fred Moulding:
Fred Moulding. The Nouveau Gallery. Regina, Sk.
Carving of a delivery Wagon by Fred Moulding:
Fred Moulding. The Delivery Wagon.
A general listing of Carvings and Paintings, with images, of unsigned Canadian Folk Art and Outsider art. By: Anonymous.
A well-known artist. Especially in the earlier days when Outsider artists and Folk artists were not recognized as such. Sculptors and painters, except for those few who were known in their time, did not sign their work. Some, like Damase Richard, became well known later in life and had carvings brought back to be identified and signed by him.
If anyone has any knowledge of these works and/or the name of the artist; please send us an email.
A Quebec carving of a man paddling a canoe. Well painted and dating from the second quarter of the 20th century:
Quebec carving of a man in a canoe. Sized.
A very fine painting of Ontario Place, 1950’s. Oil on Panel. Found in Toronto:
Unsigned Oil on panel of Ontario Place.
Carving of a Polar Bear. Painted pine. Found in Quebec. 1980’s.:
Unsigned Carving of a Polar Bear. Found in Quebec. C. 1980.
Two Carved Figures. A Man and a Woman. Painted Pine. Unsigned. 1960’s. Found in Quebec. But carved by Ben Stiles of Moncton New Brunswick. (See his bio in the artist directory: http://lyleelderfolkart.com/artist-bios/ben-stiles/):
Two Carved Figures. Found in Quebec. 1960’s.
Carving of a Fish. Painted Pine. On a Wrought Iron Base. Found in Montreal, Quebec. Unsigned. C. 1960:
Unsigned Carving of a Fish. Painted Pine on a wrought Iron Stand. C.1960.
Unsigned Carving of a Speckled Bird. Found at Saint-Flavie, Quebec. 1960’s: SOLD
Unsigned Carving of a Speckled Bird. Lower Gulf of St. Lawrence. 1960’s.
Unsigned primitive oil on canvas. Quebec. (C.1900-1925) Found at Quebec: An oil painting on canvas of the farms along the St. Lawrence in Charlevoix. (About 15 by 27 inches. 1900-1925.) It has been attributed( by one source) to Aristide Gagnon of the Quebec City area. A very powerful and dramatic painting. (Now in a private collection.) Here is the image:
Anonymous. Charlevoix County, Quebec. C. 1910.
A fine Anonymous Wood Carving of an Indian Warrior. Found in Quebec:
Unsigned. Anonymous Carving of an Indian Warrior. 1960’s. Quebec.
