Sylvia Tait
Sylvia Tait (born March 20, 1932) is a Canadian abstract painter and print-maker.
Life
Tait attended the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design from 1949 to 1953, completing an undergraduate degree. Her instructors included Arthur Lismer, Jacques de Tonnancour, Marian Scott, Eldon Grier, Gordon Webber and William Armstrong.
Tait married artist and poet Grier in 1954. He had long-standing connections in Mexico (including with Diego Rivera) and they spent extended periods in San Miguel de Allende in the late 1950s.[1] The couple moved to British Columbia in 1968 and Tait set up her studio in West Vancouver.[2][3]
Exhibitions and Influences
Tait has exhibited in Canada, Mexico and Ecuador since the 1950s. In Vancouver, the Bau-Xi Art Gallery has regularly had shows of her work since 1977. Among her influences was the Abstract Expressionism art movement. Although Tait's early paintings were representational her mature and current works on canvas and on paper are purely abstract, showing a complex use of layered high key colour. Her work is inspired by classical music. Tait's work Aquascapes was installed at the West Vancouver Pool in 2004, and fully restored in 2013.[4]
Publications
Tait collaborated with Grier and John Huberman in the design and illustration of several books, including:[5]
- Grier, Eldon. The Ring of Ice: Poems. Montreal: Cambridge Press, 1957. Graphics by Sylvia Tait.
- Grier, Eldon. A Friction of Lights. Toronto: Contact Press, 1963; London: Poets' and Painters' Press. Dust jacket designed by Sylvia Tait.
- Grier, Eldon. Pictures on the Skin: Poems. Montreal: Delta Canada, 1967. Drawings and collages by Sylvia Tait.
- Huberman, John and Sylvia Tait. For a lark: a remedial field guide for confused birdwatchers. Vancouver: J. Huberman, c1974.
- Grier, Eldon. The Assassination of Colour. Fredericton, New Brunswick.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1978. Cover by Sylvia Tait. ISBN 0920110606
References
- ↑ "Sylvia Tait article in Artists in Canada". Canadian Heritage Information Network. National Gallery of Canada. May 14, 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Morrissey, Stephen. "The Last Modernist: Eldon Grier in Canada, a review of Eldon Grier: Collected Poems, 1955-2000". StephenMorrissey.ca. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Sylvia Tait - Artist's Biography. Vancouver, B.C.: Bau-Xi-Gallery. 1994.
- ↑ Watson, Anne (2013-10-13). "Art restored at West Vancouver pool". North Shore News. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ↑ "Search of National Library of Canada Amicus library catalogue". Amicus Canadian National Catalogue. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2015.