George Campbell Tinning
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George Campbell (Cam) Tinning, RCA (February 25, 1910 – February 28, 1996) was a Canadian painter, graphic designer, muralist, and illustrator. He was an Official Canadian War Artist in World War Two; the only one born in Saskatchewan. Post-war, he resided in Montreal but travelled extensively and painted in every Canadian province, the United States, Jamaica, Italy, France, England, and Scotland.
In 1970, he was elected a full member of the RCA – Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[1]
Early life
Tinning was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, on February 25, 1910. He studied art in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Regina, Saskachetwan. In 1938, he attended the Eliot O'Hara School of watercolour in Maine and the Art Students League of New York. He moved to Montreal and in 1940 became a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolours.{http://198.96.117.138/index.php/past-members/} He exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1940, he was employed as a graphic designer at The Robert Simpson Company or Simpson's department store at its St. Catherine Street location in downtown Montreal. In 1942 and 1948, he was awarded the Jessie Dow Prize for watercolour from the Art Association of Montreal.
World War II
After serving in the Reserves, Tinning enlisted in the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment in 1942 as a private. In 1943, he was appointed official war artist with the Historical Section of National Defense Headquarters as a Lieutenant. Posted to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, he painted east coast military installations throughout 1943. He was sent overseas and served in England, Italy, and Holland. He was promoted to Captain in 1945 and returned to Canada where he was honorably discharged in 1946. He completed over 500 pieces for the Historical Section and are now with the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Post-War
Tinning settled in Montreal where he established his studio. In 1949, he travelled and painted in Newfoundland for two months. He exhibited these watercolours at the Montreal Museum of Art and published an article on his experiences in Canada's newest province. From 1948 to 1953 Tinning illustrated travel articles for the Lincoln-Mercury Times a magazine published by the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan. Notably, one of these was written by Aldous Huxley on Lydiard Tregoz.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Tinning completed graphic designs for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal.
Apart from some prestigious patrons of the English Montreal establishment, many banks, hotels, stores, and factories commissioned works by Campbell Tinning. A series of template watercolours inspired by a French-Canadian legend was designed for rooms at the Manoir Baie Comeau, Quebec, in the 1960s. Regrettably they were destroyed by fire.
Tinning’s 1960 mural for the Jenkins Valve Company in Lachine, Quebec, was destroyed during demolition of the factory in 2004, though photos of the mural are available and . Sketches for this mural are preserved at the Musée de Lachine in Lachine, Quebec. In 1960 the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montreal commissioned Tinning to design the Maritime Bar. The hotel, renovated and reopened in 2012. still owns about 60 works.
In 1953 he was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and he became a Full Member in 1970. Although Montreal remained his home and was his constant inspiration Tinning also enjoyed rural Quebec – especially the Eastern Townships around Lake Memphramagog. He frequently visited family in the Okanagan and painted in this region of British Columbia.
In the 1970s Tinning experimented with abstract compositions. He painted floral still life throughout his career and it was his most popular genre.
Tinning died in Montreal on February 28, 1996.
Posthumously
There have been two exhibits since his death. The Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery curated a solo exhibition of Tinning war art in 1999 and more recently “The Newfoundland Paintings”.
He also had commissions from the: Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Bank of Commerce; Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, Cominco, Reader’s Digest, Chateau Champlain Hotel, Dominion Bridge Company; Iron Ore Company of Canada.
His paintings are in the collections of the: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Agnes Etherington Centre, Kingston, Ontario Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba Musée de Lachine, Lachine, Quebec McCord Museum, Montreal, Quebec MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan Stewart Hall Art Gallery, Pointe Claire, Quebec Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia.
He exhibited at the: Pennsylvania Watercolor Show, Philadelphia, 1939 New York World's Fair, 1939 Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario. Art Gallery of Toronto, Ontario. 1950 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 1954 Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour 1951, 1953 (as a member) Shell Canada Collection Gallery, Calgary, Alberta 1980 Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario 1981 Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Ontario 1988 Art Gallery of the Canadian Embassy, Washington, DC 1993 Canadian War Museum/Canadian Museum of Civilization Hull, Quebec 2000.
He had solo exhibits at many galleries across Canada including the: Sidney Carter Galleries, Montreal, Quebec 1939 Vancouver Art Gallery 1942 Walter Klinkhoff Gallery, Montreal, Quebec 1963 Jack Hambelton Galleries, Kelowna, British Columbia 1964 Kastel Gallery, Montreal, Quebec 1971 Rolland Gallery, Montreal, Quebec 1980 Galerie Francis Alexandre, Ottawa Ontario 1990 The Dominion Gallery, Montreal, Quebec 1994.
See also
References
- ↑ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
Bibliography
- "Three summer exhibitions to open today". The Western Star. June 17, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- "George Campbell Tinning fonds at Library and Archives Canada".
- "George Campbell Tinning A Retrospective of his Art and Time".