Galerie Crescent, Montreal
Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal
Private Collection, Alberta
Literature
Terry Rigelhof, Philip Surrey (1910-1990): Retrospective Exhibition, Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal, 2004, page 2
“Mixing Calm and Menace”, exhibition review (Walter Klinkhoff Gallery), The Montreal Gazette, September 25, 2004, canvas of this subject entitled “Three Girls Threatened by an Automobile”, reproduced page 2 (Arts Section)
A prime example of Phillip Surrey's signature nocturnal urban scenes, “Three Women Threatened by Automobiles” is alive with activity. Three barefoot women run across a street, as the headlights of three cars shine on them and illuminate the composition. The distinct sombreness and stillness to the painter’s work has been compared to the mood of Giorgio de Chirico’s piazzas and Edward Hopper’s American street scenes, and has established a significant rank for Surrey in Canadian art history. In this painting, the building in the right foreground with glass windows at the corner brings to mind the night scenes of Hopper, and the emptiness of the land behind the figures and street lamps recall the settings of de Chirico’s compositions. A skilled interpreter of both physical and psychological space, Surrey was known for depicting Montreal’s streets and their inhabitants. His studies of isolation within society add emotional depth to these urban scenes.
Recognized as the “leading exponent of urban landscape painting in Canada,” Philip Surrey received the Order of Canada in 1982; the citation reads: “His Montreal street scenes convey an emotive vision of the modern city, with its anonymous crowds and individual solitudes. His expressive style and a poetic humanitarianism constitute a unique contribution to Canadian art.”
