Barbara Howard (artist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barbara Howard, RCA
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Barbara Howard in 1980
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| Born |
Helen Barbara Howard
March 10, 1926 Long Branch, Ontario, Canada
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| Died | December 7, 2002 (aged 76) Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Education | Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Saint Martin's School of Art, London, UK |
| Known for | Painter, Graphic artist, Wood engraver, Book designer, Book binder |
| Spouse(s) | Richard Outram |
| Elected | 1975, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts |
Helen Barbara Howard (March 10, 1926 – December 7, 2002) was a talented Canadian artist. She was a painter, wood-engraver, and designer. Barbara Howard created art her whole life. She started after graduating from the Ontario College of Art in 1951. She continued making art until she passed away in 2002.
Her artworks are kept in many important collections. These include the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Her art is also in the British Library and the Library of Congress in Washington. Many private and public collections in Canada, the UK, and the US own her work.
Contents
Life of Barbara Howard: An Artist's Journey
Barbara Howard was born in Long Branch, Ontario, in 1926. She was the younger of two children. Her father, Thomas Howard, was a high school teacher from England. Her mother, Helen Mackintosh, was from Winnipeg and had Scottish family.
Early Education and Artistic Training
Barbara decided to become an artist early in life. She studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. This was from 1948 to 1951. There, she learned from famous artists. William Abernethy Ogilvie taught her figure drawing. Jock Macdonald taught her painting and how to arrange her art. In her last year, she won a silver medal for her drawing and painting skills.
Studying and Traveling Abroad
After college, Howard taught art in Toronto until 1953. Then, she moved to London, UK. She studied at Saint Martin's School of Art. She loved exploring the English countryside and London's art scene. She also traveled across Europe. She visited art museums in Rome, Venice, Florence, Paris, and Madrid. A special trip was to see the ancient cave paintings at Lascaux in France. This experience greatly influenced her later illustrations.
While in London, she met Richard Outram, a Canadian poet. He later became her husband. In 1956, Howard and Outram returned to Canada. They made their home in Toronto for the next 46 years.
Showing Her Art in Toronto
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Howard often showed her art. She exhibited at the Picture Loan Society in Toronto. This gallery helped new Canadian artists. Famous artists like Emily Carr and Lawren Harris also showed their work there. Douglas Duncan, who ran the gallery, also collected her art. Many Canadian public art collections now have her drawings and paintings.
Later Life and Legacy
In 2002, Howard and Outram moved to Port Hope, Ontario. Soon after, Barbara had an accident. She passed away unexpectedly on December 7, 2002, in Peterborough, Ontario.
Barbara Howard's Artistic Creations
Barbara Howard and her husband were part of a group of artists. They loved visual art, language, and making books. Allan Fleming, a graphic designer, was a close friend. His company published Twenty-Eight Drawings by Barbara Howard in 1970. This was when she focused on drawing people.
Her friend Rosemary Kilbourn, a wood engraver, taught Howard a special skill. She learned to carve images that could be printed with text.
The Gauntlet Press: Books and Engravings
In 1960, Howard and Outram started the Gauntlet Press. This was a small, private printing company. They made special, hand-bound books. These books featured Outram's poems and Howard's wood engravings. These limited-edition books are very special to collectors. You can find them in places like Library and Archives Canada and the British Library.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Gauntlet Press also made "broadsheets." These were single sheets of paper with Outram's poems. Barbara Howard designed and often illustrated them. You can see digital copies of their books and broadsheets online. A website called The Gauntlet Press of Richard Outram and Barbara Howard shares their work.
Nature and Light in Her Paintings
Nature was always a main theme in Howard's paintings. She often painted horizons, shorelines, skies, sun, and water. She wanted to capture the true feeling of a subject. She was less interested in making it look exactly real.
In her sixties, she spent ten years on a series called Encounters with Whales. These were large paintings of whales. Poet Jeffery Donaldson described them as "portraits of the mammals in something like their private element." He said they showed "brief, ecstatic revelations." Some of these huge paintings were as big as 16 feet across! They have never been shown to the public.
From the late 1990s until her death, Howard explored light and night skies. She also painted the way light reflects on water. Her later paintings often had circular shapes. They showed natural forms in an abstract way. She balanced darkness and light in her art.
Howard once said, "In my painting... I am deeply involved with light." She wanted to show the "spirit and abstract essence" of things. She was interested in life's mysteries and opposites. She aimed to move "from the dark toward light, freedom, and a transcending exuberance."
You can see more of Barbara Howard's art online. Visit the website Barbara Howard's Unfolding Visual World.
Where to See Barbara Howard's Art: Collections
Many public places keep Barbara Howard's art. This means you can visit them to see her work.
Public Art Collections
- National Gallery of Canada
- Art Gallery of Ontario
- Art Gallery of Hamilton
- Art Gallery of Peel, Brampton
- Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound
- Art Gallery of Windsor
- Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg
- Museum London, London
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
- Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant
- Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston
- Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery
- Rodman Hall, St. Catharines
- Province of Ontario Collection
Public Collections of the Gauntlet Press
These places hold the special books and prints made by Barbara Howard and Richard Outram.
- Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa
- The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
- The Gauntlet Press Collection of the Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Bruce Peel Special Collections Library, University of Alberta
- The University of British Columbia Library
- University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
- The MILLS Research Collections, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
- The Trent University Archives, Peterborough, Ontario
- The University of Calgary, Alberta, Special Collections
- The Berg Collection, New York Public Library
- The Harris Collection of Poetry and Plays, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
- The Library of Congress, Washington, DC
- University at Buffalo, New York, Special Collections
- The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
- The British Library, London
Exhibitions: Where Her Art Was Shown
An exhibition is a public display of art. Barbara Howard's first solo art show was in Toronto in 1957. A newspaper critic, Pearl McCarthy, praised her work. She said Howard was "far ahead of most landscapists in depth." She called her work "first class."
The last solo exhibition of Howard's art happened after she passed away. It was at the Art Gallery of Northumberland in Cobourg, Ontario, in 2006.
Solo Exhibitions
These are shows that featured only Barbara Howard's work or the Gauntlet Press.
- Picture Loan Society, Toronto: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1965
- Wells Gallery, Ottawa: 1966, 1982, 1984
- Fleet Gallery, Winnipeg: 1966
- Victoria College, Toronto: 1966
- Sisler Gallery, Toronto: 1974, 1976
- Hart House, University of Toronto: 1975
- The Event in the Mind, Prince Arthur Galleries, Toronto: 1980
- Yaneff Gallery, Toronto: 1983
- Massey College, Toronto: 1984
- Latcham Gallery, Stouffville: 1985
- O'Keefe Centre, Toronto: 1986
- National Library of Canada: 1986
- University College, Toronto: 1987
- Georgetown Library & Cultural Centre: 1988
- The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto: 1993
- E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University, University of Toronto: 1995
- Robarts Library, University of Toronto: 1999
- The Upstairs Gallery, Art Gallery of Northumberland, Port Hope: 2003
- Seeking Light: Last Paintings and Selected Drawings. Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg: 2006
Group Exhibitions
These are shows where Barbara Howard's art was displayed alongside other artists' work.
- Ontario Society of Artists: 1958, 1959
- Women's Committee, Art Gallery of Ontario: 1958, 1969
- Douglas Duncan Collection, Victoria College, Toronto: 1962
- Toronto Collects, Art Gallery of Ontario: 1961
- Women Artists, Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto: 1961
- Canadian Artists, Eaton's College Street: 1961
- Canadian Society of Graphic Arts: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963
- National Home Show: 1960, 1961, 1962
- C.U.S.A.C. Travelling Show, Hart House: 1958–1959
- Women's Committee, London Art Gallery: 1962
- Canadian Watercolours, Drawings & Prints, National Gallery of Canada: 1966
- Douglas Duncan Collection, Windsor, London, Hamilton: 1967
- Drawings and Sculpture, Art Gallery of Ontario: 1976
- The Living Image, Macdonald Gallery, Toronto (3 artists)
- R.C.A. Centennial Contemporary Exhibition, Toronto: 1980
- Inaugural Exhibition, Academy House, R.C.A., Toronto: 1987–1988
- Art Under Fire, Academy House, R.C.A., Toronto: 1988
- Fine Printing: The Private Press in Canada. Travelling exhibition: 1995–1997
- Women and Texts, University of Leeds: 1997
- Toronto in Print, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library: 1998
- Earthworks, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto: 1998
- Traces of Land, Traces of People: Contemporary Images of Ontario, Ontario Legislature, Queen's Park, Toronto: November 1999 – July 2000
