Ted Harrison: loved and snubbed
Wednesday August 26, 2009
Mike Thomas/Yukon = News
Artist Ted Harrison will be signing copies of his =
biography=20
at the Yukon Arts Centre on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The National Gallery doesn=92t have a Ted Harrison in its = collection.
And it doesn=92t want one.
=93They told me, =91It didn=92t fit in their collection = objectives,=92=94 said=20 Harrison=92s biographer Katherine Gibson on Tuesday.
=93Actually, the National Gallery doesn=92t have a single Yukon = artist in its=20 collection,=94 she said.
Canadian art is often overlooked, said Harrison, sitting in a = friend=92s living=20 room in Takhini on Tuesday.
=93The National Gallery seems to favour American art,=94 he said.
=93It paid $3 million for an abstract American painting with a big = red stripe=20 down the centre.=94
But Harrison doesn=92t dismiss Voice of Fire, which actually cost the = gallery=20 $1.8 million.
=93It=92s better to fling money at art than fling it at bombs,=94 he = said.
=93And it taught me a lot, that painting. I found out what he=92d = done and used=20 it in my paintings.=94
Barnett Newman took a canvas and painted it all red, said Harrison, = fiddling=20 with his hearing aid. The battery had died.
=93Then he painted cobalt blue over the red,=94 he said. =93And it = turned a deep=20 dark colour which you can=92t mix - really clever - so you have the dark = colours=20 on either side, and the red in the middle.=94
Harrison copied Newman=92s technique.
=93What I did was I painted the hills red, and the lake red and then = I just put=20 the cobalt blue over the lake, and it went a beautiful dark colour,=94 = he said.=20 =93Then I painted white swans on the dark lake.
=93So I learned a bit from that painting.=94
The wavy red and pink skies, flat yellow buildings, howling dogs, red = lakes=20 and two-dimensional ravens that are Harrison trademarks, did not emerge = until=20 the British art teacher moved north.
The style =93came from heaven,=94 he said.
=93I thought I=92d simplify everything, because when I tried to paint = the Yukon=20 as is, it was too complicated and fiddly. So I said, =91I=92ll simplify = it down -=20 I=92ll leave out the doorknobs.=92=94
After he found his niche, Harrison dropped his earlier style.
Colour took the forefront. =93I realized I could do anything any = colour I=20 wished, so I just played with colour and then I grew really interested = in=20 colour,=94 he said.
=93It=92s not necessarily the colour you see, but you can feel = it.=94
The colours are from Malaya, said Gibson, after Harrison went to take = a=20 nap.
And the double spirals in the sky with the dark outlining are Maori, = from=20 Harrison=92s time in New Zealand, she said.
Harrison started travelling after he joined the army on VJ Day.
=93I thought I=92d be going to the Far East to fight Japan,=94 he = said. =93But the=20 war suddenly ended the day I joined.=94
Instead, he ended up in India, with dysentery. =93There are more = germs there=20 per square inch than anywhere else in the world, and I happened to pick = them=20 up,=94 said Harrison. =93It nearly killed me.=94
He went on to East Africa and Egypt, then as a civilian, got a job in = Malaya,=20 teaching art, social studies, British history, and religion.
=93I taught my art students processes,=94 he said.
=93If it was line or blocking printing, I taught them how to do that = and then I=20 let them loose. I said, =91You can do any subject you like, in any = media, but it=20 has to be your choice and you=92ve got to work at it and improve it,=92 = and that=92s=20 what they did.=94
Art comes from within, said Harrison. =93It should be their feelings, = not the=20 teacher=92s feelings. Once you let them loose and they realize their = creative=20 ability, there=92s no trouble.=94
As an art student in England, Harrison wasn=92t so lucky.
=93I had a tough art teacher who hardly taught art,=94 he said. =93He = told you what=20 you had to do, and left it at that - there was no leaving it to you, no = freedom.=20 But anyway, that didn=92t affect me.=94
When Harrison started making more money as an artist than an art = teacher, he=20 quit teaching.
But success was slow.
It wasn=92t until he packed up his wife and three-year-old son and = left his job=20 in England for the Yukon that things began to change for the struggling=20 artist.
=93He was brave,=94 said Gibson=92s husband Bob Unwin.
=93He had his life, and family and friends laid out for him, and he = walked away=20 from that because he wanted to see Canada,=94 said Gibson.
In May 1969, Harrison held his first show at the Whitehorse Public=20 Library.
=93Nobody bought a painting for three weeks and the prices were = ridiculously=20 low,=94 he said.
Then Walter Grey, a visiting communications consultant for Indian and = Northern Affairs, checked out the exhibit and bought three = paintings.
He took them back home to Toronto and tried to arrange an exhibit for = Harrison, but the gallery went belly up.
=93So he got me my first exhibition in Ottawa, and I sold every = painting,=94 said=20 Harrison. =93I=92ve done well ever since.=94
There=92s more to Harrison than people realize, said Gibson.
=93When they think of him, they think of his Yukon work, but they = don=92t realize=20 what he did for 40 years prior.
=93And if he=92d missed any of those stages, we wouldn=92t have the = art we do=20 today.=94
Early Harrison works have more in common with Toulouse Lautrec and = Edvard=20 Munch than the colourful, childish landscapes that took over his later=20 canvases.
But after finding success in the simplified Yukon tableaus, Harrison = hunkered=20 down.
=93I enjoy painting in that manner,=94 he said. =93It suits = me.=94
Now in Victoria, where he and his late wife Nicky moved when she was=20 struggling with Alzheimer=92s, Harrison has added whales to the mix.
=93I paint whales under the water now; that=92s a change,=94 he = said.
Harrison, who turns 83 on Friday, can=92t paint with the =93zest and = energy=94 he=20 used to have.
=93In the past, I painted for hours every day,=94 he said.
=93I never looked upon it as a struggle. I was painting for the sake = of art and=20 it became accepted.=94
It helps that his works are viewer-friendly and apolitical.
=93I don=92t usually make political statements,=94 he said.
=93Because I might change my politics tomorrow.=94
Harrison, pictured in Gibson=92s biography smoking a cigar with Jean = Chretien,=20 has a way with politicians. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Pierre = Trudeau and=20 Ronald Reagan all have had works by Harrison.
A handwritten card from Reagan thanks Harrison for his work: =93I=92m = happy=20 because of your paintings,=94 he wrote.
=93I=92ve done all right with the prime ministers,=94 said = Harrison.
But his career was not hinged on success.
=93I painted when I didn=92t sell them and I painted when I did,=94 = he said.
And Harrison=92s still painting.
=93A Guinness helps,=94 he said.
So does a visit to the Yukon. =93It=92s like returning to the = Fountain of Youth,=94=20 said Harrison. =93I always feel better coming up here.=94
On Tuesday afternoon, Harrison had just returned from lunch at = McRae=92s=20 Chinese restaurant.
He=92s so fond of the stuff, his friend was bringing over even more = Chinese=20 food for dinner.
And a Chinese family who owns a restaurant in Victoria has named = their son=20 after Harrison.
Gibson first met Harrison in 2005, while writing a feature on him for = Focus=20 magazine. After the interview, Harrison called her up.
=93He said, =91I=92ve been trying to write my autobiography but = it=92s just too=20 difficult - would you be interested?=92=94 said Gibson.
After some deliberation, Gibson agreed, but under one condition: it = would be=20 an independent project, and Harrison wouldn=92t see the manuscript until = it was=20 finished.
=93He=92s an important Canadian, and because of his stature it needed = to be=20 objective,=94 said Gibson.
=93I didn=92t want to compromise my journalistic integrity.=94
Over the next four years, Gibson poured over old correspondence, = visited=20 Harrison=92s hometown of Wingate, England, and talked with friends and=20 relatives.
=93Right from the start Ted was completely transparent; he gave me = his=20 unpublished letters, and papers and photos - he held nothing back,=94 = she=20 said.
=93And I knew how much Ted was loved because people were so helpful = and=20 generous.=94
During her research, Gibson was surprised how little had been written = on=20 Harrison.
=93There were news clips of interviews, but this was the first piece = of=20 research on Ted,=94 she said.
Finally, Gibson handed the manuscript over to Harrison so he could = check the=20 facts.
=93It=92s funny, because the whole time I was working on the book, I = never=20 thought, =91Will Ted like it or not?=92=94 she said.
=93I wanted it to be as objective as possible. I wasn=92t writing for = his=20 approval.=94
But after handing the manuscript over, Gibson had =93a moment of = crisis.=94
=93I suddenly thought, =91What if he doesn=92t like it?=92=94 she = said.
=93If I had thought of it earlier, it would have affected the = editing, because=20 I would have changed it for his approval.
=93But I wrote it the way Ted paints - honestly.=94
Ted Harrison, Painting Paradise will be available at a book signing = with=20 Harrison at the Yukon Arts Centre tonight at 5 p.m.
There is a free barbecue at 6 p.m.
Soft cover copies of the book are $75.95.
A limited edition hardcover version, complete with a signed print is =
also=20
available at
=93Half of them have already sold,=94 said Gibson.
Contact Genesee Keevil at
(JavaScript must be enabled to view = this email=20 address)
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