Kenneth Forbes
Kenneth Keith Forbes | |
|---|---|
Painter | |
| Notable work | Canadian Artillery in Action The Defence of Sanctuary Wood |
| Spouse | Jean Mary Edgell (married 1918) |
| Awards | Order of Canada (1967); Chase Scholarship, Thomas Proctor Prize (twice) |
Kenneth Keith Forbes OC RCA (July 4, 1892 – 1980) was a portrait and landscape painter. His painting entitled Canadian Artillery in action is on display at the Canadian War Museum.[1]
Life
Born in
Kenneth Forbes studied first at the
Forbes enlisted in the 10th "Pals" Battalion of the
According to a
Forbes was also a successful amateur boxer, being light and middle weight champion of the University of London while attending the Slade School of Fine Art. He continued his boxing while in the army, becoming champion of the British Army's 111th Brigade.
In late 1918, Forbes married his wife Jean Mary Edgell, another art student, in London. They had a daughter, June Forbes McCormack
In 1953 Forbes resigned from the Ontario Society of Artists in protest against what he considered the unwarranted recognition and attention given to abstract and what was then called "modern art". In 1958 he resigned from the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts for the same reasons. He later published a short book, Great Art to the Grotesque with an introduction and biographical sketch by Roy Greenaway, as a full statement of his rejection of the artistic worth of abstract or "Modern Art".
In 1958, Forbes, Manley MacDonald, Victor Llewellyn Child, Gordon Roy Conn and others established the Ontario Institute of Painters as a body for traditional or "realist" artists. Members included Douglas Ferguson Elliott, J. R. Tate, and Marion Long.
Forbes was awarded the Thomas R. Proctor Prize for portraiture by the National Academy of Design, New York (Now known as the
In 1967, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to the arts as a landscape and portrait painter".[4] In 1972 he had a book published, Great Art to the Grotesque.[5]
Kenneth Forbes died in Toronto on February 25, 1980.[6]
Works
| Title/subject | Date created | Medium |
|---|---|---|
| The Defence of Sanctuary Wood | circa 1917 | Oil on canvas |
| Corporal William Metcalf V.C. | circa 1918 | Oil on canvas |
| Canadian Artillery in Action | circa 1918 | Oil on canvas |
| Captain Melville Millar | circa 1932 (Prescott Prize) | Oil on canvas |
| The Connoisseur (Gordon Roy Conn) | 1935 | Oil on canvas |
| My Wife and Velazquez | circa 1939 (Prescott Prize) | Oil on canvas |
| George Black | 1934 | Oil on canvas |
| James Langstaff Bowman | circa 1935 | Oil on canvas |
| Pierre-François Casgrain | circa 1940 | Oil on canvas |
| James Allison Glen | circa 1945 | Oil on canvas |
| Gaspard Fauteux | 1946 | Oil on canvas |
| Robert Borden | 1947 | Oil on canvas |
| Louis-René Beaudoin | 1960 | Oil on canvas |
| Marcel Lambert | 1963 | Oil on canvas |
Richard Bedford Bennett
|
1962 | Oil on canvas |
See also
References
Bibliography
- Canadian War Museum (2016). "Canadian Artillery in Action". Canadian War Museum. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- Forbes, Kenneth Keith (1972). Great Art to the Grotesque. Pitt Publishing. - Total pages: 67
- Library and Archives Canada (2016). "RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 3182 - 49". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- Morse, Jennifer (1 March 1997). "Kenneth Forbes". Legion Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- OCLC 506030992.
| International | |
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| Artists | |
