Harold Barling Town
(1924 - 1990) Painters Eleven, OSA, RCA
Previously Sold Works
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Vortex
oil and lucite 44 on canvas
signed and dated 64-65 upper left; signed (twice) and dated 64-65 (twice) with multiple hand prints on the reverse; titled on the stretcher
56 x 56 ins ( 142.2 x 142.2 cms )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $15,500.00
Sale date: June 5th 2019
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Celebration, 1954
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1954 upper right; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
24 x 36 ins ( 61 x 91.4 cms )
Auction Estimate: $12,000.00 - $15,000.00
Price Realized $22,800.00
Sale date: June 8th 2023
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Tyranny of the Corner (Hypothesis Set)
oil and lucite on canvas
signed (twice), titled and dated 1962 (twice) on the reverse
81 x 74 ins ( 205.7 x 188 cms )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $20,700.00
Sale date: November 22nd 2016
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Death of a Platitude
oil and lucite 44 on canvas
signed and dated 1965 lower right; signed, dated and two handprints on the reverse; titled on the stretcher
52 x 52 ins ( 132.1 x 132.1 cms )
Auction Estimate: $18,000.00 - $22,000.00
Price Realized $21,600.00
Sale date: June 15th 2022
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Inscape, Window
oil and lucite on board
signed and dated 1959 lower centre; signed (twice), titled, and dated 1959 (twice) on the reverse
48 x 48 ins ( 121.9 x 121.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $20,000.00 - $30,000.00
Price Realized $21,600.00
Sale date: December 6th 2023
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Clandeboy Reprise
oil and lucite on board
signed and dated 1959 upper centre; signed, titled and dated on the reverse
30 x 30 ins ( 76.2 x 76.2 cms )
Auction Estimate: $15,000.00 - $20,000.00
Price Realized $13,800.00
Sale date: November 23rd 2017
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Still Life
oil and lucite on canvas
signed and dated 1960 lower right
30 x 30 ins ( 76.2 x 76.2 cms )
Auction Estimate: $8,000.00 - $12,000.00
Price Realized $11,500.00
Sale date: May 31st 2016
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Night Sign #2
oil on board
signed and dated “6-4-55” lower left; signed, titled and inscribed “0-27” on the reverse of the framing
24 x 11.25 ins ( 61 x 28.6 cms )
Auction Estimate: $12,000.00 - $15,000.00
Price Realized $12,000.00
Sale date: June 15th 2022
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Through Utrillo’s Garden
oil on board
signed and dated 1954 lower left; titled on the reverse and signed on the reverse of the frame
13 x 13 ins ( 33 x 33 cms )
Auction Estimate: $7,000.00 - $9,000.00
Price Realized $10,800.00
Sale date: June 9th 2021
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Homage to Turner
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1959 lower right; signed and dated 1959 on the reverse
8 x 10 ins ( 20.3 x 25.4 cms )
Auction Estimate: $5,000.00 - $7,000.00
Price Realized $5,192.00
Sale date: May 28th 2019
HAROLD BARLING TOWN
Sea Gardens
single autographic print
signed and dated 1955 in the lower margin
19.75 x 15.75 ins ( 50.2 x 40 cms ) ( plate size )
Auction Estimate: $2,500.00 - $3,500.00
Price Realized $3,068.00
Sale date: November 20th 2018
Consignments
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Harold Town Biography
(1924 - 1990) Painters Eleven, OSA, RCA
A lifelong Torontonian, Harold Town was one of Canada’s foremost abstract expressionists. After graduating from the Ontario College of Arts (now, OCAD University), he worked as a commercial illustrator for many years. In 1954, he became a founding member of the experimental painter’s group, Painters Eleven, a name he coined, himself, along with Jack Bush and Jock MacDonald.
Town’s work went beyond paint, though: he experimented with all kinds of different methods and materials. He often employed a lithography machine to ink his paper in different ways (his single autographic prints). A propane blow torch was occasionally used to burn his paper or canvas. And he particularly loved collage, stating, “it’s marvelous to think of the garbage of our age becoming the art of our time.” According to Gerta Moray, these collages are closely connected to his abstract expressionist painting: “the compositional modes of his collages share the aesthetic of his paintings: they spread out to fill the surface yet are given focus as configurations by areas of drawing in ink or paint.”
Two of Town’s single autographic prints were the first works by the artist to be acquired by the National Gallery of Canada. The NGC then selected him to represent Canada at the 1956 Venice Biennale, along with Jack Shadbolt and Louis Archambault.
By the end of the 1960s, Town had exhibited his work internationally and represented Canada at the Venice Biennale twice. He garnered covers of Maclean’s and Time magazines and became a hero of Canadian art. At one point his name was “synonymous with art in Toronto.” He received an honourary doctorate from York University and the Order of Canada.
In the 1970s, Town faced criticism for remaining in Toronto instead of going to New York to pursue Pop Art and minimalism. Town asserted that these claims by art critics suggested a subservience to the New York trends. He remained true to his roots in Toronto.
In the 1980s, Town returned to figurative painting. His bright colours and simple lines were playful, ironic, and influenced by folk art. In his series, Musclemen, he painted body builders in cartoonish proportions and colours, with giant muscles and tiny heads. Apparently, Town “came upon an international bodybuilding competition and was captivated by the human body performing its muscle-bulging poses as living sculpture.” Moray asserts that this series ironically comments on “the masculine ideal in popular culture.” This assertion is made more interesting when considering that he also painted a small number “Muscles Ladies.”
Four years before his death, Town was given a long overdue retrospective exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Town’s death in 1990 of cancer was felt profoundly by the artistic community. Pierre Burton wrote “Town was a great artist with an insatiable intellect.” David Burnett, the curator of his retrospective wrote: “Our response to his death must be to begin the process of understanding his achievement as a totality, of facing all of his work in the present” The enticing legacy of his work continues to captivate and intrigue audiences today.
Literature Sources
Iris Nowell, “Harold Town”, Vancouver, 2014, pages 175-78
Gerta Moray, “Harold Town: Life and Works”, Art Canada Institute, 2014 (www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/harold-town)
We extend our thanks to Scarlett Larry, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.