THE DOCK

With Nova Scotia finally enjoying some warmer summer weather, we’re highlighting a work currently on view in the Halifax location’s Ondaatje Gallery.

John Ward, The Dock, 1978, acrylic on canvas, 54.0 cm x 83.5 cm.
Gift of Christopher Ondaatje, Toronto, Ontario, 1994. 1994.253 

JOHN WARD was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1948. In 1965 he started his career at Ireland’s Ardmore Studios, working as a scenery artist during the filming of the First World War epic “The Blue Max”. He went on to work for the theatre in Dublin and for a number of commercial art studios before emigrating to Canada in 1969.

Upon arrival in Toronto he worked briefly as an illustrator, freelancing for most of Canada’s major magazines, before quitting in 1974 to paint full-time. In 1975 he exhibited with The New York Illustrators Society.

In 1993 “Courage to Create”, a documentary about the evolution of his work, was broadcast in Canada on CBC TV. The film outlines the transition from the “urban” subject matter of the 1970’s to his nature-based paintings. Since the late 1980’s his paintings reflect what he calls “Entering Nature”. He lives in the countryside north of Toronto.