Cosgrove, Stanley Morel

Technique: Oil on canvas, oil on wood, charcoal, red pencil drawing, felt tip pen, crayon, gouache, ink and pen, pastel, sepia, lithography, silk-screen painting.

1911-2002

Stanley Cosgrove, is an important figure in Canadian art. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montreal under Charles Maillard, Henri Charpentier and Joseph St-Charles (1928-1935), and with the Art Association of Montreal under Edwin Holgate(1936). During this period he was influenced by French artists George Barque and Georges Rouault.

In 1939 he received a Scholarship from the Province of Quebec to study in Europe for four years, but war broke out and instead he went to New York. Once in Mexico, he apprenticed with the great masters Rodriguez Lozano, José Clement Orozco and Rivera. He became interested in, and worked on, fresco paintings, still life, landscapes, and street scenes.

He returned to Canada in 1944 and concentrated for a while on still life, and portraits, some more representational than others. Later he started fresco-style paintings of tree-lined and wooded landscapes, still life, figure studies, and portraits. He taught art at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montreal (1944-1970).

In 1944, he joined the Dominion Gallery in Montreal, which distributed and sold his works for over 20 years in the Canadian and American art markets. He exhibited at the RCA between 1950 and 1954 and at the MMFA between 1936 and 1964.

Distinctions

• In 1951, Stanley Cosgrove became an associated member of Royal Canadian Academy and in 1973 he was elected titular member of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Collections

• His work is in many corporate, public and private collections