Gerald Gladstone (7 January 1929 – 7 March 2005) was a Canadian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Life

Born in 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Ralph and Dora Gladstone, Gerald was the sixth of nine children. In his youth, Gladstone was as committed to music as he was to painting, teaching himself to play the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

and forming a jazz band. He married in his early twenties supporting his young family with a variety of jobs ending up with a position in commercial advertising. He set up a sculpture studio and began working on a series of welded pieces influenced by

Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...

. In the 1950s, Gladstone was exhibited by Toronto gallery owner Av Isaacs along with artists such as

Michael Snow Michael Snow (born December 10, 1928) is a Canadian artist working in a range of media including film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. His best-known films are ''Wavelength'' (1967) and '' La Région Centrale'' (1971), with the f ...

, Gordon Rayner,

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 ...

, and

Tony Urquhart Anthony Morse Urquhart, LL.D. (April 9, 1934 – January 26, 2022) was a Canadian painter. He was recognized in the late 1950s and early 1960s as one of Canada's pioneering abstractionists, having been variously linked with the Toronto painters ...

. His works can be found in public spaces and prestigious galleries throughout Canada, the United States and internationally. He was widely recognized for his contributions to modernist sculpture and abstract painting during the mid-20th century. Gladstone's unique approach was characterized by the use of bronze and steel to create highly abstract and geometric forms. His work often explored themes of time, space, and the dynamics of human perception. He also showed an interest in astrophysics and the concept of universal structures, which reflects in his artwork. Gladstone and

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

crossed paths in the artistic and academic circles in the mid 1960s and became lifelong friends. Buckminster Fuller (often referred to as “Bucky”, July 12, 1895 - July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. Fuller, best known for popularizing the geodesic dome, philosophies on design and sustainability greatly influenced 20th-century art, architecture, and science. Gladstone was friends and influenced by their shared interests in design, space, and geometric forms. The relationship between Gerald Gladstone and Buckminster Fuller's shared interests provided a solid foundation for their strong friendship. The mid-1960s were a period of intense creativity and innovation in the arts and sciences, and cities like Toronto, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Montreal, were vibrant hubs of activity. Their friendship was influential; Fuller's principles of "doing more with less" and "design science revolution" would have resonated with Gladstone. Fuller's futurist thinking and focus on the intersection of art and science resonated with Gladstone's own explorations of astrophysics and universal structures in his work. This connection between Gladstone and Fuller further underscores the interconnectedness of the arts and sciences and the important role of interdisciplinary friendships in fostering innovation and creativity. In 1959, Gladstone received his first

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 ...

of the Arts grant and relocated to

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. He studied at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

where he met and befriended the British sculptor

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

. Under Moore's influence, Gladstone began a long period of experimentation with figurative work. In 1967, Gladstone received three commissions for

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

. There was an exhibition of his mid- to late-career plastic cube sculptures and his ''Downtown Nudes Series'' - a collection of oils on canvas - at the opening exhibition of Toronto's St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, and in 1973 he produced the ''Electric Figure Series'', another collection of oils on canvas. Among his later-career commissions were the ''Three Graces'', a fountain and bronze sculpture for the Ontario government buildings, '' Female Landscape'', a fountain and bronze sculpture at

Place Ville Marie Place Ville Marie (PVM for short) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. It serves as the main and official headquarters for Ro ...

, ''Optical Galaxy Sculpture'', a fountain and sculpture in

Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconne ...

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 ...

, and in 1978 a fountain and precast concrete sculpture for a

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

memorial in a Civic Center plaza in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

. The sculptures in the entrance of

La Ronde La Ronde may refer to: Geography * La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France * La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica *La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada *A La Ronde, an ...

in Montréal Québec Canada are made by Gladstone. Other works include: * McGillivray Fountain 1968,

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

, Toronto * Pylon 1960, 170 Memorial Park Avenue, Toronto * Solar Net 1963, Larkin Building (University of Toronto St. George Campus) Devonshire Place, Toronto * Galaxy Series Number2 1967, inside Macdonald Block, 900 Bay Street, Toronto * Female Landscape 1972, Place Ville Marie, Montreal In 1990, Gladstone set up a studio in

Beaverton, Ontario Beaverton is a community in Brock Township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. History Beaverton was first settled in 1822. The settlement is located on Lake Simcoe at the mouth of the Beaver River. It was called Calder's M ...

. 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 ...

held a retrospective of his work in 2003. He was made a member of

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

Gladstone died on March 7, 2005, in Toronto.

Works

Image:Gladstone Sculpture.jpg, Gladstone's ''The Three Graces'', fountain & sculpture, 1972, Macdonald Block (Ontario Government Buildings) 900 Bay Street, Toronto Image:Gladstone Oil.jpg, Gladstone's ''Downtown Nudes'', oil on canvas, 1970s File:Universal Man.JPG, Gladstone's ''

Universal Man ''Universal Man'' is a sculpture by Gerald Gladstone located outside the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since 1994. The bronze figure was originally located in a prominent location at the foot of the CN Tower, ...

'', sculpture, 1976, Yorkdale Mall, Toronto File:Odette Sculpture Park Gerald Gladstone.jpg, Gladstone's ''Morning flight'' in

Odette Sculpture Park The Windsor Sculpture Park, formerly known as the Odette Sculpture Park, is an open space in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that shows 35 large-scale contemporary sculptures by world-renowned artists including Elisabeth Frink, Gerald Gladstone, and Sore ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

File:Gladstone galaxy.JPG, Gladstone's ''Galaxy'' at Cameron Offices, Town Square expresses humanity's concern with its position in intergalactic space, Canberra ACT, Australia File:Compton martin luther king monument.jpg, Gladstone's ''Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial'', 1978, in Civic Center Plaza of

Selected exhibitions

*1967: ''Expo 67'', Montreal *2003: ''Art Gallery of Ontario'', Toronto: ''Gladstone: Event Horizon''

Selected collections

*''National Gallery of Canada'', Ottawa *''Art Gallery of Ontario'', Toronto

References

External links

Gladstone, Bill. 'A sketch of artist Gerald Gladstone' November 29, 2011Toronto Sculpture - Virtual Gallery
(Gerald Gladstone)

(Gerald Gladstone) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gladstone, Gerald 1929 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters Jewish Canadian artists Jewish sculptors 20th-century Canadian sculptors Canadian male sculptors 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian male artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from Toronto Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts