Nancy Petry is a Canadian artist known for innovation within the field of painting, photography, film and performance art. As one of the first Canadian artists to paint in the style of

lyrical abstraction Lyrical abstraction is either of two related but distinct trends in Post-war Modernist painting: ''European Abstraction Lyrique'' born in Paris, the French art critic Jean José Marchand being credited with coining its name in 1947, considered ...

, her work was featured at the

Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...

(London, UK), at the

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) is a contemporary art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the Place des festivals in the Quartier des spectacles and is part of the Place des Arts complex. Founded in 1964, it is ...

and in a

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

touring exhibition. She was also instrumental in establishing the Association des graveurs du Québec and contributed to the success of the Montreal alternative art cooperative, Véhicule Art. In 2015 the "Nancy Petry Award" was instituted.

Early life

Nancy Petry (1931) was born and raised in

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 ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In 1948 she attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

where she studied painting under

John Goodwin Lyman John Goodwin Lyman (September 29, 1886 – May 26, 1967) was an American-born Canadian modernist painter active largely in Montreal, Quebec. In the 1930s he did much to promote modern art in Canada, founding the Contemporary Art Society in 1939. ...

and John Fox. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1952, she traveled for a year throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

before resuming art training in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1954. She attended the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

, and studied under

Henri Goetz Henri Bernard Goetz (September 29, 1909 – August 12, 1989) was a French American surrealist painter and engraving, engraver. He is known for his artwork, as well as for inventing the carborundum printmaking process. His work is represented in m ...

at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

and under

Stanley William Hayter Stanley William Hayter (27 December 1901 – 4 May 1988) was an English painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with surrealism and from 1940 onward with abstract expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of ...

at Atelier 17. In 1956 her first solo exhibition was held at Galerie Voyelles (

). Later that year Petry's work became less figurative, and she turned to abstract art while living in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, from 1958 to 1959.Roumanes, Jacques-Bernard
"Nancy Petry : le phoenix de la peinture".
''Vie des Arts'', Sep 2008, 60-63. Web.

Career

As one of the first artists in Quebec to adopt

,Beaux-arts des Amérique
''Nancy Petry - 'Voyages' ''
/ref> Petry's 1959 solo exhibition at Galerie

Agnès Lefort Marie-Agnès Lefort (January 5, 1891 – February 9, 1973) was a Canadian artist, educator and gallery owner living in Quebec. She was born in Saint-Rémi and was educated by the Ursulines at Trois-Rivières. She went on to study art at the M ...

(Montreal) drew attention for “simplicity and economy of harmonious line, form and color”. In 1962 the

organized a solo exhibition of her work, ''Paintings and Watercolours'' which toured Western Canada from September 1962 to May 1963. Although Petry moved to London, England, in 1962, she continued to exhibit in Canada with a solo exhibition of paintings, ''Recent Works'', held at Galerie Agnès Lefort in 1963. In the United Kingdom, she participated in the 1966 Second ''Commonwealth Biennial of Abstract Art'' (London) and in the 1967 ''Canadian Abstract Art Centennial Exhibition'' (London and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

). In 1968 she attended the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

for post-graduate lithography and studied under Stanley Jones. In 1969, a solo exhibition of her paintings was held at the

(London). By 1970 Petry divided her time between Montreal and London. In Montreal she joined the print-making studio GRAFF and participated in a group exhibition at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. In 1975, Nancy Petry was one of seven artists invited by the

, Canada’s premier contemporary art museum, to paint “in situ” at the exhibition ''Processus '75''. Her work ''Air Currents'', composed of 16, 30"x 48" panels, was noted for its “extreme lightness of treatment, form and material”. In 1976 Petry exhibited in the

's group show ''Cent Onze Dessins du Québec''. The following year the

toured ''One Hundred and Eleven Drawings of Quebec'' across Canada. In the mid-70s, Petry's art evolved to include

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

art intervention Art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience, venue/space or situation. It has the auspice of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with the Viennese Actionists, the Dada mov ...

s and new media. In 1975, she joined the artist-run Véhicule Art, Montreal's first parallel gallery for alternative art including installation, performance and multi-media art.Concordia University Archive
Véhicule Art
Web In 1978, she attended a 16mm film-making course conducted by Jenny Okun at the

London Film-Makers' Co-op The London Film-makers' Co-op, or LFMC, was a British film-making workshop founded in 1966. It ceased to exist in 1999 when it merged with London Video Arts to form LUX. It grew out of film screenings at the Better Books bookstore, part of the 19 ...

and began incorporating film into her art. In 1979 she created ''The Shadow Figure'', collaborating with dancers

Édouard Lock Édouard Lock (born March 3, 1954 in Morocco) is a Canadian dance choreographer and the founder of the Canadian dance group, La La La Human Steps. Career La La La Human Steps Founder, Artistic Director and Choreographer Édouard Lock began hi ...

and Michelle Fèbvre at Vehicule Art, and ''Les Naiades'' with dancer Bonnie Farmer at Concordia University (Montreal) in 1994. Her participation in performance art resulted in what critic Jacques-Bernard Roumanes described as "a new pictorial writing based on movement". Petry also participated in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 ''London Biennale''. In 2008 a

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 ...

exhibition of her work was held at the Musée des beaux-arts de Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. Inspired by travel throughout her career, ''Voyages'', a solo exhibition of her early work held at gallery Beaux-arts des Amériques (Montreal) in 2014, traced her transition from figurative to abstract art. In 2015 the Nancy Petry Award was established. Artist Rachel Crummey was presented with the first award on May 16 at the RCA Annual General Assembly held at the

. Petry lives and works in Montreal, Canada, and London, England.

Contribution

In recognition of her contribution to the visual arts, Petry was inducted into the

Royal Canadian Academy of Art 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 ...

(RCA) in 2015. As a multidisciplinary artist, Petry influenced painting, print-making and performance art in Canada. In 1970 she co-founded with Robert Savoie and René Derouin, the Association des graveurs du Québec (later Conseil des graveurs du Québec). From 1977 to 1980 as Vice-Chair and Gallery Coordinator at Véhicule Art, Petry brought many national and international artists to Montreal, including:

Nan Hoover Nan Hoover (12 May 1931 – 9 June 2008) was a Dutch/American-expatriate artist who is known for her pioneering work in video art, photography and performance art. She spent almost four decades living and working in the Netherlands.Arte Fiera (Bologna, Italy) in 1977 and 1978,Nixon, Virgini
"Bright idea gives birth to trashy collection".
''The Montreal Gazette'', 29 Sep 1979. Web. and was instrumental in "establishing the gallery as the main venue of performance art in Canada".Collections Canada

Government of Canada. Web. Petry’s work is found in public collections throughout the Commonwealth including:

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

(London),

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, (Canberra),

National Library of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

(Ottawa),

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 (Ottawa),

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec ( 'National Library and Archives of Quebec') or BAnQ is a Quebec government agency which manages the province's legal deposit system, national archives, and national library. Located at the Gr ...

(Montreal), and

Confederation Centre Art Gallery The Confederation Centre Art Gallery (CCAG; french: Musée d’art du Centre de la Confédération) is an art museum that forms a part of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The art museum pavilion f ...

(Charlottetown). Her work is also in the collections of the

National Centre for Contemporary Arts The National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA) (russian: Государственный центр современного искусства) in Moscow, Russia, is a museum, exhibition and research organization which primarily aims its efforts ...

(

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

, Russia), Galleria de arte do Sesi (São Paulo, Brasil) and the

Museum of New Art The Museum of New Art, better known as MONA is the first popup museum, founded in 1996 and run by artists since then. The museum's locations have varied from the walk-in closet of a commercial gallery (rented for $1 per year), the second floor of ...

(Detroit, USA).

References

External links

* British Museu
Nancy Petry Biography
* Beaux-arts des Amériques C
Web.

Artist website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petry, Nancy 1931 births Living people Canadian women sculptors 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters Canadian photographers Canadian performance artists Women performance artists Artists from Montreal Sculptors from Quebec 20th-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian sculptors 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women artists Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Atelier 17 alumni Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Académie Colarossi alumni Académie Julian alumni