The Art of Mary Pratt

I have enjoyed doing some online research about Mary. Firstly, I was surprised to see that Mary's husband is Christopher Pratt, who is also an outstanding and well recognized Canadian artist.

A quick google search for the art of Mary Pratt brings up a lot of her works.

Words fail me when I look at her above painting. It goes without saying that Mary paints in the Realist style, and when you check out her You Tube Video, from the McMichael Gallery you will note that for many years she painted things which were immediate to her experience.

While this is true for many or maybe most of us, it seems the painterly thing to do is to stylize or dramatize our surroundings, but in the case of the painting above, what could be more ordinary then a collection of jars of jelly sitting on a sheet of aluminum foil?

While Mary may be classified as a Realist - Realism does not mean creating photographic representations with paint. Alex Colville called his works,'magic realism' or realism which transcends reality or becomes more real then real. And it seems that we can apply this definition to the painting we see in this blog entry.

As I said, words fail me in critiquing Mary's works and besides that since I am unable to obtain her permission I will refrain from writing anything which would not meet her approval.

So, let us rejoice that Mary has taken the vin ordinaire of life and turned it into champagne Our lives are enriched for it.

Mary Pratt, from Wikipedia

Mary Frances Pratt, CC (née West) (born 15 March 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick) is a Canadian painter specializing in still life realist paintings.
She is the daughter of attorney William J. West, who served as the Minister of Justice of New Brunswick from 1952 to 1958 and Katherine West, she has one sister - Barbara. She attended Mount Allison University, studying Fine Arts under Alex Colville, Ted Pulford, and Lawren P. Harris. She graduated in 1961. She met her future husband, the artist Christopher Pratt, at Mount Allison. After the marriage, she moved with him to Newfoundland.[1]. They have four children, John, Anne, Barbara, and Edwin.

Her first solo exhibition was held at the Memorial University Art Gallery in St. John's in 1967. In 1996, she was named Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1995, the touring exhibition The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light was organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton. The accompanying catalogue won numerous awards and was included in Great Canadian Books of the Century.[2] In 1997, she was awarded the Canadian Molson Prize from the Canada Council for $50 000.[3]
In 2007, Canada Post issued stamps in its "Art Canada" series in honour of Mary Pratt.[4] The $0.52 (domestic rate) stamp featured her Jelly Shelf (1999). The souvenir sheet included the $0.52 stamp, as well as a $1.55 (international rate) stamp with her Iceberg in the North Atlantic (1991).

Since the 1980s, Pratt has given addresses and published essays in periodicals such as The Globe and Mail and Glass Gazette. Her paintings have been exhibited in most major galleries in Canada, reproduced in magazines such as Saturday Night, Chatelaine, and Canadian Art, and featured on billboards, in cookbooks, and on the covers of books and magazines. Her paintings are featured in many prominent public, corporate, and private collections, including those of the National Gallery of Canada, The Rooms, and Canada House in England.[5]

Mary Pratt is currently based in St. John’s, where she continues to live and paint.

Mary Pratt's works include:
The Back Porch (1966)
Caplin (1969)
Eviscerated Chickens (1971)
Red Currant Jelly (1972)
Amaryllis (1975)
[edit]References

^ CBC.ca - Life and Times
^ Smart, Tom. The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1995.
^ Canadacouncil.ca
^ Canadapost.ca
^ Smart, Tom. The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light. Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1995.

Mary's works can be found in the, National Gallery of Canada, The Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, The Canadian Encyclopedia, The Mira Godard Gallery Toronto, Trinty Galleries, Library and Archives Canada. - Celebrating Women's Achievements.


Appreciation to Wikipedia, and to the donor who provided this information on Mary.
Please click here to visit the Wikipedia article.

Mary Pratt, at the McMichael Gallery. 2007