Listed Canadian Artist: (1916-2012)
Acrylic on Masonite - ca. 1970
Signed by the Artist
Titled Verso: "Wintertime Interlude, Oakville, Ont."
h: 12 in. by w: 20 in.
Born in Woodstock, Ontario, he 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 Affiliation: 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., Biographical Reference notes at, Damkjar Burton Gallery, Hamilton, Ont., Eaton's Art Gallery, Tor. 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: 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 serving at Lawrence Park Community Church, Yorkminster Park Baptist, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, Sherbourne United and Alhambra United.
Douglas Ferguson Elliott, who was known to be still creating paintings into his late 80's and early 90's, passed away at the age of ninety-six in January 2012.
Updated July 3, 2024 |
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