Robert "Rob" Gonsalves (July 10, 1959 – June 14, 2017) was a

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 ...

painter of magic realism (

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

). He produced original works, limited edition prints and

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

for his own books. His style is similar to that of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bounda ...

Early life

Gonsalves was born 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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. As a teenager, he was inspired by

Progressive Rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

album cover art of groups like

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

, and

Gentle Giant Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band were known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied musical skills of their members. All of the band members were multi-inst ...

. Their fantasy and surrealism sparked his artistic direction. His love of the urban environment and Victorian architecture found its way into his paintings. Rob Gonsalves studied Architecture at Ryerson Technical University and learned how to manipulate perspective. This became an important element in the narrative of his paintings. He attended the

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...

for a year.

Career

In his post college years, Gonsalves worked full-time as an architect, also painting

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

murals and theatre sets. After an enthusiastic response in 1990 at th
Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition
Gonsalves devoted himself to painting full-time. Although Gonsalves' work is often categorized as

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, it differs because the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. Ideas are largely generated by the external world and involve recognizable human activities, using carefully planned illusionist devices. Gonsalves injects a sense of magic into realistic scenes. As a result, the term "Magic Realism" describes his work accurately. His work is an attempt to represent human beings' desire to believe the impossible, to be open to possibility. Gonsalves exhibited at Art Expo New York and Los Angeles, Decor Atlanta and Las Vegas, Fine Art Forum, as well as one-man shows a
Huckleberry Fine Art
Marcus Ashley Gallery in South Lake Tahoe, Hudson River Art Gallery

(November 7 to December 31, 2004), Discovery Galleries, Ltd., and Kaleidoscope Gallery. Huckleberry Fine Art published the 1st limited edition prints which remains incomplete because of Gonsalves's death. In June 2003,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

introduced North America and Canada to ''Imagine a Night'', Gonsalves' first hardcover book featuring sixteen paintings. Due to the success of ''Imagine a Night'', Simon & Schuster released a second book, '' Imagine A Day'', in 2004 for which he won the 2005

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in the ''Children's Literature – Illustration'' category. His book ''Imagine a Place'' was released in 2008. He released another book, ''Imagine a World'', in September 2015. The website robgonsalves.live was created in 2019 and is dedicated to keeping his legacy alive. Posters and eventually, new posthumous limited edition prints will become available.

Death and legacy

Gonsalves suffered from mental illness and ended his life on June 14, 2017. His official Facebook page stated in part "Rob Gonsalves battled the dark but succumbed June 14th." He was survived by his wife and extended family. Fellow artist and widow, Lise Carruthers organized an effort to preserve his legacy in 2018. In 2019, a 4-foot-high black granite plinth was installed on his gravesite at the Necropolis Cemetery in Toronto Canada. Each side of the pedestal featured a different porcelain reproduction of a Gonsalves painting. Future plans are for a series of art exhibitions featuring Gonsalves original paintings.

In popular culture

In 2018, Ariana Grande released a music video for her song 'God is a Woman' in which most scene referenced Gonsalves' paintings "Water Dancing" and "Carved in Stone".

References

External links

The Magic Realism of Rob Gonsalves
at Saper Galleries (sapergalleries.com) *
The Art of Rob Gonsalves
at Huckleberry Fine Art (www.huckleberryfineart.com)
https://www.facebook.com/RobGonsalves.Official/
*https://www.robgonsalves.live/ Family website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonsalves, Rob 1959 births 2017 deaths Canadian surrealist artists Canadian children's book illustrators Governor General's Award-winning children's illustrators Artists from Toronto 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists