Harold Barling Town

Harold Town was the most visible and gregarious member of Painters Eleven. Larger than life in personality and presence, Town became one of the most recognizable figures in mid-century Canadian abstraction, and, in particular, in Toronto’s contemporary art scene. Town exhaustively explored and found success in various forms of representation, technical application, and source material. He was known as an unpredictable painter, and drew inspiration from everywhere, whether from stories he read in the news, images in print, or the collections of international museums. His works and career are recognized as a marker in the development of abstract expressionism in Canada, reflecting a unique balance and strength that is undeniably … Harold Town. Town represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and 1964, and his works are held in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), the National Gallery of Canada, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.