Walter R. Duff (May 05, 1879 – September 01, 1967)[1][2] is a Canadian graphic artist and painter who worked in oil and watercolour. His subjects include portraits, buildings, still life and landscapes.[3]
Walter R. Duff | |
|---|---|
| Born | Walter Raymond Duff May 3, 1879 |
| Died | September 1, 1967 (aged 88) |
| Education | Hamilton Art School; the Art Students' League, New York (1899-1902); the Polytechnic Institute, London, England |
Career
editDuff was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1879 and studied at the Hamilton Art School, the Art Students' League in New York City (1899-1902), and the Polytechnic Institute in London, England. He worked as a commercial artist for the Toronto Engraving Co. (1904). He was Manager of the Commercial Art Company, Toronto (1905-1907);[4] worked for the Advertising Designers Ltd., Toronto. (1911-1915), and for The Mortimer Ltd.[3][4]
Work
editDuff was a printmaker, water colourist, painter, ceramist (he decorated plates) and cabinet-maker.[2][5] During his years in Canada he did oil paintings and watercolours of Georgian Bay, Haliburton[2] and Algonquin Park.[3] In 1916, he had a sale of his portrait etchings with a catalogue in his studio. The catalogue had a text written by Barton Hamilton and was published under the auspices of the Niello Guild.[6] At the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Canadian Medical Corp as a private soldier. He was stationed at Orpington Hospital in England where his knowledge of anatomy and handling of sculptural materials was of help to the plastic surgeons doing repair work for the wounded soldiers, especially facial injuries. He was soon promoted to Lieutenant and then Captain. His work was later sent to the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of England.[3] In 1919, he exhibited two plaster busts, one of himself, with the Royal Canadian Academy.[7] After the First World War, he lived in Montreal (c. 1920-25), then in 1930, moved to Douglaston, N.Y. and married.[2] Much of his later career was spent in New York.[3] He returned to Canada, to Toronto in 1963, after his wife died.[2] He died in Toronto at the age of 88. In 1968, the article Walter R. Duff, Versatile Artist-designer was published in The Auctioneer in Toronto.[2] Afterwards, an auction was held of his art at Ward-Price Auction House on College Street in 1968.[3]
He is represented in the National Gallery of Canada by six works, all etchings (three portraits, three landscapes) and was included in the National Gallery of Canada's major book on Lithography, The Stone Age: Lithography from its Beginnings.[8][9] His art work is also in the Art Gallery of Guelph[10] and Art Gallery of Sudbury.[11]
He was a founding member of the Graphic Arts Club in Canada in 1904, the year it was founded (it became the Canadian Society of Graphic Art) and he was included in a photograph of the Graphic Arts Club, Circa 1903-1904, which shows him standing, along with J. W. Beatty (Colgate Papers, Ontario Archives, Toronto). His other affiliations included: Salmagundi Club, N.Y. (1916); Chelsea Arts Club, London (1917); and Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers (1916), among others.
References
edit- ^ "Walter Duff". app.pch.gc.ca. Government of Canada. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Walter R. Duff: Versatile Artist-Designer. The Auctioneer vol. 10, no. 3 (Mar. 1968), p. 4-5. 7. Toronto. 1968. OCLC 1253369548. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e f A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
- ^ a b "The Commercial Art Co. Ltd". onegalstoronto.wordpress.com. One Gals Toronto. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Etsy, Walter R. Duff plates". www.etsy.com. Etsy. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ Hamilton, Barton (1916). Exhibition of portrait etching by Walter Raymond Duff / [under the direction of The Niello Guild]. Toronto: Niello Guild. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ McMann, Evelyn (1981). Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802023667. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ The Stone Age: Lithography from its Beginnings, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, p. 13
- ^ Lareau, François. "Index of Canadian Artists (Visual Arts)". www.lareau-law.ca. François Lareau. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Collection". collections.artgalleryofguelph.ca. Art Gallery of Guelph. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Collection". artgalleryofsudbury.myshopify.com. Art Gallery of Sudbury. Retrieved 5 December 2021.