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Listed Canadian Artist: (1916-2012)
Acrylic on Masonite: mounted in a fine quality circa 1980's frame.
Sight Size: h. 20" by w. 26".
Frame Size: h. 26¼" by w. 32¼". Replacement cost today approx. $650.
Titled Verso: On the original label, "McCarthy's Mill, Streetsville, Ontario".
Back of Frame: All new hanging hardware with epoxy mounted felt bumper pads.
Signed Recto: Lower right front
Condition: Recently cleaned and varnished with no condition issues.
Artist Affiliations: Ontario Institute of Painters (OIP), the Fine Art Society of Milton.
An Observation: A great example of one of Doug's finest impressionist paintings.
A note of interest: Douglas was a member of The Ontario Institute of Painters, OIP., which was an association of Canadian artists dedicated to the exhibition of non-abstract, representational art. The OIP was formed in 1958 by a like-minded range of traditional artists and their supporters who were disappointed with OSA, the Ontario Society of Artists and RCA, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts for their over-enthusiastic accommodation of abstract art. The founders of the OIP included a number distinguished artists of the day, such as Kenneth Forbes, Archibald Barnes, Manly MacDonald, Robert Allan Barr and noted Canadian art collector Samuel Edward Weir.
Douglas Ferguson Elliott, OIP
Born in Woodstock, Ontario, Douglas showed early aptitude for art, music, and hockey. In his teens he turned down several hockey scholarships to study art and music in Canada and the United States. Doug took painting trips in his trailer with his wife Elizabeth during the summers in search of the coastal landscape of Nova Scotia; in the spring, fall and winter, he painted in Quebec, Ontario and New England. Another of his painting companions was Adrian Dingle RCA, OSA., and Douglas also studied in the United States under noted east coast Gloucester artist Emile Gruppe.
Working mainly in oils and acrylics, he painted in a loose impressionist style mainly with a palette knife and a thick brush. Douglas captured the mood of his subjects effectively, with simplicity and with the masterful handling of his mediums. He was commissioned to decorate the private suite for The Inn on the Park, Toronto, for visiting Russian Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin (Prime Minister 1964-1980).
His more than fifty solo shows include: Gallery 1667, Halifax (1976); Eaton's Art Gallery, Tor. (1976) (1983) (1985); Skelton Galleries, Collingwood, Ont. (1977); and others. He is represented in the Ontario Collection, Tor.; Dofasco Collection, Hamilton; Molson's Brewery Co. Ltd. and major galleries across Canada, U.S.A., Britain, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, France, Germany and Australia. His paintings are also in the permanent collection of Ontario House in London, England.
Membership Affiliations: Douglas was a member of the Ontario Institute of Painters and he was a member of the Fine Art Society of Milton.
He is listed in: Colin MacDonalds Dictionary of Canadian artists, Vol. 1. He also has biographical reference notes at, Damkjar Burton Gallery, Hamilton, Ont., Eaton's Art Gallery, Toronto, The Index of Ontario Artists, Ed. H. Wolff, VAO/OAAG, Tor., and the Ontario Collection by Fern Bayer, Fitzh. & Whsde., Markham, Ont.
On a personal note: Many collectors of his works may not know this about him, but Douglas began a long distinguished professional career in music by earning his Bachelor of Music in composition after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force in WWII. During the war years he was the Music Director of the Greenwood Male Choir, whose well known concerts were broadcast weekly on CBC radio. He was also a brilliant recitalist both on organ and piano, and served on the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. He was an organist and choirmaster in Toronto for 53 years and served at the Lawrence Park Community Church, the Yorkminster Park Baptist, the St. Andrew's Presbyterian, and at the Sherbourne United and the Alhambra United.
Douglas Ferguson Elliott, a passionate artist who was known to be still painting into his late 80's and early 90's, passed away at the age of ninety-six in January 2012.
Copyright 2024 © FineArtandAntiques.ca
On a slightly humourous note: We've sold a number of delightful paintings by Douglas Elliott over the years that started back as early as the 1990's. In 2009 two elegant looking ladies came into our walk-in gallery and after browsing for a while one lady asked, if the information on one of our biographical notes for a painting by Douglas Elliott was up-to-date and accurate.
We said that as far as we knew, all of our research was as accurate and up-to-date as possible. On this notation we had stated a death date of 2007 for Douglas Ferguson Elliott, OIP.
With a surprised look on her face she replied, "Well, I think you might want to adjust your information as to the death date of the artist". When asked, if we had noted the wrong date, she stated that "She and her husband were long time friends of the artist and that they just had an enjoyable dinner with Doug and his wife on the thursday evening previous, so, maybe a correction might be in order, wouldn't you say." We all had a good chuckle over the issue and we thanked them for the update.
At that point in time, the death date of 2007 that we had referenced was in fact taken from a reliable source of information concerning 20th century Canadian artists. We then immediately revised our biographical notations on Douglas Elliott and this newly updated information was shortly after passed-on to that relevent database source for a specific correction.
Painting Ref No: 12OIE23PLA-S/OAEEX
Douglas Ferguson Elliott, McCarthy's Mill, Streetsville, Ontario ca.1980
Updated November 25, 2024 |
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