Philip Henry Howard Surrey

Place: Calgary

Born: 1910

Death: 1990

Biography:

Philip Henry Howard Surrey was a Canadian artist known for his figurative scenes of Montreal. Born on October 10, 1910, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Surrey died on April 24, 1990, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A founding member of the Contemporary Arts Society and Montreal Men's Press Club, Surrey was part of Montreal's cultural elite during the late 1930s and 1940s.

Early Life and Education

Surrey's early life was marked by his father's adventures, which took him to various parts of the world. He lived in Singapore and Calcutta as a young child and attended school in England. Surrey's mother, Kate de Guerin, was a relative of portraitist Richard Crosse, who taught him to read, write, and sketch. Surrey studied under Frederick Varley and Jock Macdonald at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design).

Career

Surrey's career as an artist began in earnest in 1927, when he started painting urban scenes. He was influenced by the work of Robert Henri and the Ashcan School. Surrey's early work featured solitary figures on street corners and in cafes or taverns during the Great Depression. His work in the 1940s and 1950s is characterized by sombre colors, mysterious shadows, eeriness, and the loneliness and secrecy of their subjects. From the 1960s on, his work became more stylized and luminous with young women or gregarious urban dwellers as subjects. Some notable works by Surrey can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. His work is also featured on Wikioo.org, where you can find more information about his life and art.

Awards and Recognition

Surrey was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and awarded a Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967. He was also appointed to the Order of Canada in 1982. Surrey's work has been recognized for its unique contribution to Canadian art, with his Order of Canada citation reading: "His Montreal street scenes convey an emotive vision of the modern city, with its anonymous crowds and individual solitudes."

• Philip Surrey was a figurative expressionist concerned with composition and design.
• He worked in various mediums, including watercolours, oils, ink, charcoal, and lithography.
• Surrey's oeuvre also includes Canadian landscapes.

For more information about Surrey's life and art, you can visit his page on Wikipedia or explore his works on Wikioo.org.