“Art has no middle ground. Either it works or it doesn’t. Bad art is not the enemy, mediocre art is the enemy. Ironically, the impetus for great art seems to grow from the chasm between failure and aspiration...”

“In art, unlike war, you are meant to die many times; it is a way of living.”

 Harold Town, 1987

Harold Town (1924-1990) was one of Canada ’s most prolific and versatile artists. His vast body of work comprises paintings, etchings, lithographs, collages, drawings and works in other media. During his lifetime, his work was shown at major galleries and international exhibitions in North and South America and in Europe . He was a founding member of Painters Eleven, the group of artists who helped to introduce Canadians to abstract art in the 1950’s. Throughout his career he remained a focus of controversy for his original artwork, flamboyant public persona and outspoken opinions.

His work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, the Tate Gallery, London, England, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Cleveland Museum, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa (a gallery that specializes in the work of the Painters Eleven), the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, the Nickle Arts Museum, Calgary, the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Le Musee du Quebec, Le Musee d’Art Contemporain, Montreal, Concordia University, Montreal, the New Brunswick Museum, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Confederation Art Gallery, Charlottetown, Memorial Art Gallery, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Peterborough, Macdonald-Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Art Gallery of Windsor, London Regional Art and Historical Museum, Lambton Gallery, Sarnia, Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa, York University, Toronto, University Art Gallery, Massey College and Victoria College, University of Toronto, Prince of Wales Museum, Yellowknife, and the Territorial Art Gallery, Whitehorse.