Gordon Adaskin
1931 - 2001
One of Adaskin’s students, John Glassco, described him as “a profoundly sensitive and thoughtful teacher who was one of the few who gave… advance warnings about the difficulties … [and] the rewards and satisfactions available to those of us who chose to pursue a career in the arts. Gordon never referred to himself as an artist. If he was addressed in this way, he would correct the speaker and explain that he was merely a painter. He was a modest man of enormous wisdom.”
Adaskin staged many solo exhibitions, including at Alberta House in London, Maison Canadienne in Paris, Melnychenko Gallery in Winnipeg, and Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver. Numerous public collections house his work, including those of the Winnipeg Public Library, the University of Saskatchewan, and the National Gallery of Canada. He received the Canada Packers Purchase Prize, and was appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy of Artists (1976).
Adaskin died at his home in Gibsons, British Columbia in 2001.