Browse works by Stanley Cosgrove

Biography

Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1911, he studied art at the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts, Montreal, at the age of 26, and afterwards at the Art
Association of Montreal where he took figure painting under Edwin
Holgate. He enjoyed the rare honour of being invited to exhibit, while
still a student, at the Provincial Museum of Quebec in 1939. About this
time he was following the work of French painters like Braque and
Rouault. He received a scholarship from the Province of Quebec in the
earlier part of the year and had the intention of studying in France for
four years but the outbreak of the Second World War forced a change
in his plans. He was allowed to study on the American continent and
he chose New York. He arrived there with his wife but after two
months found it unsatisfactory and finally went to Mexico. In Mexico he
became interested in fresco painting and approached Jose Clemente
Orozco through teacher friends. Orozco who had just begun a fresco
for the Hospital Jesus de Nazareno in the heart of Mexico City agreed
to let him help with some parts of the work. Cosgrove arrived each
morning at six to help mix mortar, prepare plaster, and work at
everything from cleaning brushes to sweeping floors. On the fresco
itself, Cosgrove was allowed to apply flat colours of the background
and sketch in the principal points like head, hands and feet, enlarging
from Orosco's original sketch. Orozco himself had learned fresco
painting from Italian encyclopedias and advised Cosgrove to go to the
Italians for further knowledge of this medium. Cosgrove stayed with
Orozco until the completion of the fresco. It was from working with
Orozco that Cosgrove felt a new assurance and directness not
experienced in his previous work. During his four years in Mexico he
also did still lifes, landscapes, street and market scenes. On his return
to Canada in 1944 he concentrated for a time on still lifes, using
colours, sometimes with distorted forms and sometimes more
representational, showing traces of Braque. Some of his portraits had
the characteristic outlines, particularly in the face, of work by Rouault
proving highly effective. In 1953 Cosgrove was awarded a
Government fellowship to study in France. Paul Duval in his Canadian
Drawings and Prints ranked Cosgrove among the gifted of Canadian
figure draughtsmen and used two examples of his drawings for
illustration. Dorothy Pfeiffer in a review of Cosgrove's 1961 exhibition
at the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, stated, "... The salient qualities of
Cosgrove's fresco-like paintings of woody landscapes, still life,
portraits and figure studies... would appear to lie in their combines
purity and certainty of expression; in their unusual transparency and
depth of color and texture; as well as in a certain mystical sense of
detachment from the hurly-burly of everyday life...". His work was
also exhibited at the Continental Galleries in Montreal and the Laing
Galleries in Toronto. He was active about 1953 in the field of textile
designing, working with a group of artists which included Robert
Lapalme, Paul-Emile Borduas, Maurice Raymond and F.C.A. Sullivan.
He had also worked for wider interest in modern fresco painting in
Canada, particularly in churches, and he conducted classes in this
medium at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He completed a fresco for the
entrance of the philosophy and science wing of the College de Saint
Laurent near Montreal. He is represented in the collections of the Art
Gallery of Ontario; Hart House, University of Toronto; the Vancouver
Art Gallery; and the National Gallery of Canada. He is a member of the
Canadian Group of Painters, Royal Canadian Academy (A.R.C.A.
1951), and lives in Montreal where he teaches at the Ecole des Beaux-
Arts.

Featured Work

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Title: Grove of Trees Artist: Stanley Cosgrove Medium: Oil Size: 20" x 24" (h x w) Status: Available, please contact us to purchase. Price : Available on Request View details

Available Work

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