Snow Shadows
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This pastel was created in 2005, depicting Plaskett's Suffolk, UK, garden in the winter. This pastel has been framed with archival materials and a silver Verbec frame. The framed dimensions are 36.5 x 30 in.
From Joseph Plaskett's 1999 autobiography " A Speaking Likeness":
"Landscape occupies an anomalous space in my work. Land, sea and city have been subjects: in Canada the wilderness from Labrador to the Queen Charlotte Islands; in Europe landscapes rarely without architectural and human traces. The rapidity in my use of pastel, the medium I chose for this huge production, allowed little time for contemplation or revision. The virtues are spontaneity and immediacy. Unlike Constable or Tom Thomson, I usually fail when I try to translate sketches into painting. At times, however, I painted directly in oils, taking my easel to the Place des Vosges or the banks of the Seine, finding subjects in remote Jaen in Spain, in Venice, on the streets of New Westminster, in my mother's garden or recently on my own property in England. These did not always succeed in evoking what I call my "world" to my satisfaction, nor had they the panache and the sheer inspiration of the pastels. All this changed in 1990 when, in my garden during a frenzied summer, I abandoned circumspection and, as if possessed, painted vast polyptychs. As a consequence, I now see myself as a painter of landscape.
A landscape artist does not merely render a view, he goes beyond to the idea of "motif". Instead of painting anything in sight, he searched until he finds what can inspire a painting or a series of paintings. Like a musician, the artist takes a theme which he develops, making variation upon variation." (pp. 250-252).
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY -
Joseph Plaskett was born in 1918 in New Westminster, BC. Joe took a liberal arts grounding at the University of British Columbia, resulting in an honours degree in history. Though he was a teacher for a few years, Joe was already exploring his interest in art. Studying at the Vancouver School of Art (1940-2) brought praise and encouragement from GG Sedgewick, Lawren Harris, Jock Macdonald, Jack Shadbolt and BC Binning, the names on the foundation stones of Canadian art. Support came also from AY Jackson and then Emily Carr whose scholarship Joe was the first to receive. This scholarship was a turning point as it took Joe to San Francisco where abstraction awaited him in teachers like David Park and Clyfford Still. In New York City under Hans Hoffmann, a central figure in the history of modern art, Plaskett further explored the boundaries of pictorial structure and in 1949 Joe travelled to Paris where he tamed these forces with instruction from masters including Fernand Léger, a key figure in the history of all art. Innate talent began to stabilize.
Joe taught again at the Vancouver School of Art and Emma Lake in the 50s but made Paris his permanent home in 1960. Since then Joe has lived in Europe. Since 2001, he lived in Suffolk, England. Despite living abroad for over fifty years, he was staunchly Canadian. Almost annually he returned to his homeland and held exhibitions across the country. A legendary host and supporter of Canadian artists working in Europe, he was considered an unofficial Ambassador in Paris. He finally gave up his 15th century Paris townhouse, home to fantastic parties throughout the age of parties, in 2004 and dedicated the proceeds of the sale to the establishment of the Plaskett Foundation. The foundation funds a year of European development for a young Canadian artist annually. When the formation of the foundation was announced in 2005, Mr. Plaskett said, "I created this award in emulation of what Emily Carr did for me in 1946. I would like young Canadian artists to enjoy the privileges I experienced more than a half century ago. Europe and, above all, France, have left me richer in knowledge and experience. Although things have changed a great deal since I first travelled and studied abroad, the lesson of Europe and its past is always waiting for those ready to learn."
Beginning with his first exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1951, Joe exhibited in Canada’s greatest public galleries. His list of solo and group exhibitions throughout Canada and Europe, is immense and in 2001 Joe was invested into the Order of Canada. The Plaskett bibliography is similarly impressive including numerous reviews, catalogues and the celebrated 1991 memoir, A Speaking Likeness, and the 2006 reminiscences of friends and colleagues published as The Book of Joe.
Joseph Plaskett was truly a national treasurer in the Canadian art world. Joe died in his home on September 21, 2014 at the age of 96. Joe will be remembered for his artistic vision, his kindness, optimism and generosity, the influence he has had on the Canadian art world and farther afield, and in his many artistic gifts - all of which were presented in his most humble way. His legacy will live on in his exquisite body of work, in the Plaskett Foundation and in the huge circle of people who were blessed by his friendship.
