Clark McDougall (November21, 1921 August 17, 1980) was a Canadian painter known for his black enamel style.

Career

Clark McDougall was born in

St. Thomas, Ontario St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It gained its city charter on March 4, 1881. The city is also the seat for Elgin County, although it is independent of the county. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population of the city wa ...

and lived and died in the house where he was born at 56 Inkerman Street. When he was 16, he left school, having decided to become an artist. He began by painting watercolour in nearby North Yarmouth. He was self-taught from library books and learned from artists such as the watercolourist in his hometown, William St. Thomas Smith, and

Charles Burchfield Charles Ephraim Burchfield (April 9, 1893 – January 10, 1967) was an American painter and visionary artist, known for his passionate watercolors of nature scenes and townscapes. The largest collection of Burchfield's paintings, archives and j ...

, whom he visited in Buffalo, New York and who urged him to avoid art school since it would damage what he had as an artist. In 1950, he traveled to Montreal and Quebec City where he first saw the paintings of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

. By 1952-1953, Clark was using ingredients of

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

in his work, such as its attention to bright colour. In 1954, McDougall met

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formal ...

, at a symposium at the

Albright-Knox Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

in Buffalo and Greenberg discussed McDougall's work with him. A

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

in 1957 forced McDougall to paint from photographs in his studio. His painting style changed and the use of outlining became important to the design of his work, leading him to develop his black enamel style in 1962. The black outline served as an understructure, uniting his work and emphasizing various parts. In 1943, he had his first exhibition at Mellors Fine Art Gallery in Toronto. In 1945, he had an exhibition in New York, reviewed in

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countri ...

, which travelled to Buffalo and St. Thomas. His first exhibition of black enamel paintings was in 1968 at the 20/20 Gallery, London. In 1976, the Volunteer Committee at the London Regional Art Gallery (today

Museum London Museum London is an art and history museum located in London, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the forks of the Thames River. It started its operations in 1940 with London Public Library and amalgamated with London Regional Art Gallery and Lon ...

) commissioned a painting, ''Site'', to commemorate the building of the new gallery (now this work and the sketch in black-and-white are both in the collection of Museum London which has over 20 works by the artist). In 1977, the

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

organized an exhibition titled ''Clark McDougall: Paintings since 1953''. In 1987, the London Regional Art Gallery mounted a posthumous travelling

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

of McDougall titled ''John Street is a one-way Street: Clark McDougall Retrospective'', curated by Paddy O`Brien. In 2011, the McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario organized the exhibition ''Fugitive Light: Clark McDougall’s Destination Places'', co-curated by Anna Hudson and Catherine Elliot Shaw. His paintings are in public collections such as 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 ...

, Vancouver Art Gallery,

, the

Robert McLaughlin Gallery The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a public art gallery in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest public art gallery in the Regional Municipality of Durham, of which Oshawa is a part. The gallery houses a significant collection of Canadian conte ...

, the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

, and the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal i ...

Art Bank. His commissions included a series of murals for the entrance lobby of the

Central Elgin Collegiate Institute Central Elgin Collegiate Institute is the smallest of three public secondary schools in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. At one time the school was part of the International Baccalaureate Organization; however, that status is no longer recognized. Ce ...

, St. Thomas by the Elgin County Board of Education (1954) and 14 Stations of the Cross for Holy Angels Church, St. Thomas. Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Ontario represents his estate. Clark McDougall died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

in 1980 at the age of 59.

Record sale prices

McDougall's ''Release of the Thistledown'', sold at Toronto-based Waddington's Auction for $24,125 in 2015. It had been estimated at $2,000-3,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDougall, Clark 1921 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters Canadian modern painters Canadian landscape painters 20th-century Canadian male artists Canadian muralists Deaths from brain tumor