Anita Aarons (6 November 1912 – 3 January 2000) was an
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n-
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
artist.
Life
Born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Aarons studied at the East Sydney Technical College
and the
National Art School
The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...
in Sydney before moving to New York City, where she graduated from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1964. She exhibited work in venues in the United States, Canada, and Australia. She taught sculpture and crafts in a number of institutions, and designed
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows, furniture, and jewelry, in addition to working as a sculptor. Collections which include examples of her work include the Charlottetown National Craft Collection and the National Collection of the Canadian Craftsmen Guild in Toronto.
On 25 June 1951, Aarons was invited to attend a meeting of the City of Sydney's Health and Recreations Committee to discuss her submission to erect a piece of sculpture in the children's playground of Phillip Park. The Council approved the submission on 2 October 1951. The sculpture was removed on 2 April 1952.
In 1965 she became a critic for the
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...
's ''Journal RAIC'', writing a column titled "Allied Arts" about the role of craft in architecture.
In 1983, she was awarded the Diplome d'Honneur from the Canadian Conference of the Arts.
Aarons returned to Australia at the end of her life and settled in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, where she died on 3 January 2000.
The
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...
's Special Collections holds a small collection of sixteen audio recordings of Anita Aarons interviewing figures of Canadian art or world figures active in the 1970s and 1980s. These include
Ron Bloore,
Graham Coughtry
Graham Coughtry (June 6, 1931January 13, 1999), was a Canadian modernist figurative painter.
Biography
Coughtry was born in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, on June 8, 1931. He learned to paint at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School, then attended ...
,
Dorothy Cameron
Dorothy Cameron Bloore (1924–2000) was a Canadian art dealer, and installation artist in Toronto, Ontario. Her works can be found in the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Biography
Dorothy Cameron initially ...
,
Guido Molinari
Guido Molinari (October 12, 1933 – February 21, 2004) was a Canadian artist, known internationally for his serial abstract paintings.
Biography
Molinari was born in Montreal, Quebec to Italian heritage with his parents from Cune (Borgo a ...
,
Yves Gaucher
Yves Gaucher, (January 3, 1934 – September 8, 2000) was an abstract painter and printmaker. He is considered a leader amongst Quebec's printmakers in the 1950s and 60s. His work has been included in the collections of public galleries s ...
, Ted Bieler,
Gordon Rayner, and
Jack Pollock
Jack Henry Pollock (1 August 1930 – 10 December 1992) was an author, painter, art educator and art dealer who was a fixture on the Toronto art scene for over 3 decades. Pollock was the flamboyant founder and owner of The Pollock Gallery in Toront ...
.
Aarons also has work, "Year of the Moon," that is also held by the
Art Gallery of NSW
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarons, Anita
1912 births
2000 deaths
20th-century Australian sculptors
20th-century Canadian sculptors
Canadian women sculptors
Artists from Sydney
20th-century Australian women artists
20th-century Canadian women artists
Australian emigrants to Canada
National Art School alumni
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Australian designers
Canadian designers
Australian stained glass artists and manufacturers
Canadian stained glass artists and manufacturers
Australian jewellers
Canadian jewellery designers
Australian expatriates in the United States
Women jewellers