Jaan Poldaas

1948 - 2018

Known for his bright, clear compositions, painter Jaan Poldaas was a significant contributor to the history of abstraction in Canada. Born in Sweden in 1948, he studied architecture in the late 1960s before beginning his career as an artist. Poldaas was awarded multiple Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council grants and was an active contributor to the Toronto arts community. From 1975-1979, he belonged to the Artist’s Cooperative Toronto (A.C.T.) and, in 1979, was a founding member of Mercer Union. In the years that followed, Poldaas continued to advocate for artistic independence within the commercial gallery sector and from 1986-1988 was a member of Cold City, one of Toronto’s first artist-run centres. Between 1990 and 1999, Poldaas exhibited with striking frequency, participating in no less than 18 exhibitions. 

In Abstract Painting in Canada, Roald Nasgaard writes “The distinction of Poldaas’s project was that he was working with colour at a time when colour had little place in Minimalist or Conceptual art” (p.278). Looking at Poldaas’ work, it quickly becomes apparent that he approached the application of colour with great care. He frequently used mathematical equations to determine the layout of his signature colour blocks and animated the flat surface with subtle shifts in hue. Poldaas’ work can be found in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of Canada in addition to numerous private and corporate collections.