Hortense Mattice Gordon

Hortense Gordon was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and settled in Chatham, Ontario, studying and teaching art throughout the region for most of her early career. Gordon travelled with her husband John Gordon, or Canadian painter Alexandra Luke, throughout the United States and Europe to view collections and exhibitions. Having focused on still life and representational paintings in her early years, Gordon’s stylistic evolution came after studying at Hans Hoffmann’s School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she embraced non-objective painting and produced some of her most important works. Her linear forms and abrupt angles were informed by Cubism and earned her national recognition. Gordon became a member of the influential Painters Eleven in 1953, exhibiting works in many of their national and international exhibitions. Gordon’s paintings can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and many private collections.