Henry Orenstein (January 13, 1918 – August 8, 2008) was a Canadian artist, animator, activist, teacher, soldier and pacifist.
He was best known for his contributions to the art world and for his art work - he specialized in
easel painting
An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, easels are traditionally used by painters to support a painting while they work on it, normally ...
s and
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s. His work is displayed in private and public collections across Canada, most notably in the
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) is a public provincial art museum based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The art museum's primary building complex is located in downtown Halifax and takes up approximately of space. The museum complex compr ...
and the
Art Gallery of Sudbury
The Art Gallery of Sudbury is an art gallery in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Established in 1967 by the city's chamber of commerce under the Canadian Centennial projects, the gallery is located in the historic turn of the century arts and c ...
.
Early life and family
Orenstein was born into a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario.
Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, ...
, but later raised in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. This is where he developed his lifelong interest in politics and human rights. In his youth, Orenstein fought as a foot soldier in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, an experience that led him to be a lifelong pacifist. It was during the war that he met and married his wife
Joan Orenstein
Joan Orenstein (December 4, 1923 – October 10, 2009) was a British-born Canadian actress, primarily on stage, although she performed in other media. One of her best-known roles was in the 1997 film '' The Hanging Garden'' as the dotty old g ...
, a noted Canadian actress;
he had five daughters: Jill, Edie, Ruth, Cia, and Sarah. His youngest child, Sarah, is a
Dora Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...
recipient for her portrayal of a sharp-tongued feminist filmmaker in
Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser (born June 28, 1959 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator.Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof"Fraser, Brad" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', June 2, 2019. He is one of the most widely pr ...
’s dark comedy, ''Cold Meat Party'' (2003).
Education and career
After the war, Orenstein studied painting at the
Art Students League
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...
of New York with Mary Stepnberg
[A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada] before returning to Toronto to start his family with Joan. He became a member of the
Canadian Society of Graphic Art
The Canadian Society of Graphic Art (CSGA), originally called the Graphic Arts Club, was a non-profit organization of Canadian graphic artists.
It was founded in 1904, and formally chartered in 1933. At one time it was one of the larger organizatio ...
in 1949.
In the 1950s, Orenstein and his family moved to
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
, where he began his 25-year career with the
CBC as a graphic designer and set designer. Also in Halifax, he taught drawing and animation at the
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design or NSCAD, is a public art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The uni ...
and was an active member of Halifax's art community.
One of Orenstein's well known art contributions was a mural he created for Local 598 of the Mill Mine Union in the 1955. Orenstein was a member of the International and Feather Workers (IFL) and had spent time working in the needle trades and fur industry. With the establishment of the
Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.
History Formation
The CLC was ...
and the growth of unions during the 1950s, Orenstein was one of the first artists to be commissioned by a union to paint a mural. He spent three and a half months in Sudbury, Ontario sketching, getting to know the community, and the workers in order to depict Sudbury's local industrial landscape. The mural was 36 feet long and 41 inches high and intended to illustrate the common tensions such as jobs and the polluted landscape of Sudbury during the 1950s.
Photographs related to the Sudbury mural and the papers of Henry Orenstein can be found in the Joan and Henry Orenstein fonds,
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...
Library.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Orenstein, Henry
Canadian designers
20th-century Canadian painters
Canadian male painters
21st-century Canadian painters
Jewish Canadian activists
Jewish Canadian artists
Jewish painters
People from Midland, Ontario
1918 births
2008 deaths
Canadian military personnel of World War II
20th-century Canadian male artists
21st-century Canadian male artists