IRWIN ‘BUD’ CROSTHWAIT 1914 - 1981
D R AW I N G O N S T Y L E Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street St James’s, London SW1Y 6BN
17th - 22nd September 2015
info@graymca.co.uk
www.graymca.co.uk GRAY M.C.A | 1
INTRODUCTION
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Irwin ‘Bud’ Crosthwait was an extraordinary & versatile Canadian artist. His name and style became synonymous with the world of haute couture in post war Paris & his abstract oils were exhibited worldwide alongside the greatest names of European Abstraction of the mid 20th century. Inheriting his father’s artistic flare and matinee idol good looks, he studied fine art at Sir George William College, Montreal and swam with the Canadian national team, competing in the selection heats for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin before leaving for New York and enrolling at Pratt Institute of Fine Arts. Here he became fascinated by the work of master fashion illustrator Carl ‘Eric’ Erickson, who inspired him to attend the New York fashion collections. With his instinctive feeling for the female form, Crosthwait had found his forte that would shape his fashion career for the next 30 years. Whilst at Pratt, he also learnt the enviable talent of being able to sketch in a fast and economical but visionary style that would stand him in such good stead at the fashion shows in Paris in the years to come. His favourite class was to be sent out into the city to sketch an assignment. Crosthwait would produce two or three fast sketches and then head to Dodger Stadium to watch his beloved baseball team. He usually won the juried show to the ire of the other students who had labored all day over a single sketch. During his time in New York, his eye was also taken by the energetic and powerful abstract works of Hans Hofmann, who had settled in New York a few
years before Crosthwait’s arrival. This first exposure to the early days of American Abstract Expressionism took a firm hold on Crosthwait’s imagination to which he would be drawn back to once he settled in Paris. Between 1944 & 1947 Crosthwait served with the Royal Canadian Navy aboard HMCS Ontario and the Colossus Class Aircraft Carrier HMCS Warrior. He was appointed official war artist and captured the drama of war at sea. His drawings presented a human element to the war sketching everyday life aboard ship. Following an honorable discharge from the Navy, Crosthwait headed to Paris, from where he began his lifelong career as a fashion illustrator and a partnership with Harpers Bazaar that was to last almost 30 years. The fashion editors & designers loved that he could draw with the astonishing speed and the lightest of touch that he had perfected in New York. He was known affectionately as ‘Bud’ & ‘the tough man of fashion’, for as Angela Landels, former Art Director of Harpers Bazaar said, “…He stood out in the fashion world, like an old mariner sitting in the front seats of the fashion shows, he never looked like a fashion artist …. what made him interesting was that his work was not accurate or precise; he captured a fleeting impression of an elegant woman in elegant clothes.” Through his unique use of line and colour he became a household name among the leading fashion publications of the period working for Harpers Bazaar, Elle, Femina, Vogue, L’Art et la Mode, The New York Times and the Herald Tribune.
He swiftly too became a favourite with the haute couture houses. Givenchy & Balenciaga requested Crosthwait alone attend and sketch the new collections, a privilege that was rare in the salons of the day. In 1961 a Harpers Bazaar Editor commented, “...with Crosthwait the adjectives come tumbling out: a loose-limbed man with one of the fastest delivery rates on record, an amusing talker when he is not smoking his pipe, a sports car enthusiast and a connoisseur of beauty....” Celebrated 60’s designer Marc Vaughan commissioned Crosthwait to illustrate his couture collections and the two became great friends. Vaughan went on to become one of the largest collectors of his abstract work. Emilio Pucci too, was a huge supporter of Crosthwait’s work. Crosthwait’s success as a leading fashion illustrator fed his passion for painting, enabling him to purchase the tools to create his powerful and highly textured abstract work. Work revered by his Tachisme school abstract expressionist contemporaries in Paris. Victor Vasarely said of Crosthwait at the time; “...he has strength, individuality, good taste & drama ...”
His astonishing versatility and talent made him a key figure in Paris with a wide circle of friends both in the world of fashion and Modern art at a time of swift change. He developed his art as the decades passed and continued to exhibit throughout the 1960s & 1970s with brighter more intense works. Apollo Magazine in the early 1960s underlined Crosthwaits place amongst the greats. “....the tough man of Modern Art. The free technique of his gouaches, as far removed from the Paris collections, which he sketches for Harpers Bazaar and the press, as Rembrandt is from de Stael. The more restrained oils are an instance of his yearning to be treated as a serious artist in today’s vernacular and they match up well with the output of others whose reputations are already established”. To have found international success both in the world of haute couture fashion and respect in the world of Modern Art is a tribute to the versatile and talented Irwin ‘Bud’ Crosthwait - a true artist of raw talent, vision and sensitivity. A modern master in every way. This exhibition is the first major retrospective of Crosthwaits work to be held in Europe since the 1970s. September 2015
He went on to exhibit across Europe and North America to great acclaim, alongside Serge Poliakoff, Hans Hartung and Nicholas de Stael. In 1958 Crosthwait underlined his belief in Abstraction “An Abstraction? It means the spirit of the thing - not as it looks to the artist, but more perhaps as it feels”.
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OFFICIAL WAR ARTIST
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The Canadian War Art Committee recommended that artists share in the experience of ‘active operations' so that they should “know and understand the circumstances, the environment and the participants” of war. The Canadians were particularly rigorous in their selection of personnel: potential artists were actually given timed sketching exercises to assess their ability to record military subjects with “speed and accuracy in observing and recording essentials of mass, line, colour, atmosphere and attitude.” Irwin ‘Bud’ Crosthwait clearly passed with flying colours: his sketching, albeit not of action subjects, is palpably ‘on the spot’, sometimes feverishly scratchy, at others elegantly linear, catching the essence of a subject with a deft, summary stroke of the pen. The sleek outline of a battleship or the controlled chaos of the flight deck of an aircraft carrier are caught with an adroitness and an energy that would have pleased his naval masters. Posted by the Canadian Navy to the cruiser HMCS Ontario towards the end of the war, Crosthwait managed to avoid the worst of the action and instead spent his time recording the warp and weave of quotidian naval life. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Crosthwait’s later career, it is in the depiction of figure, uniform and style that he really excels. Not so much in his portraits of individual servicemen and women, which are pleasant and conventional, but in the more atmospheric, generic shots of men and women in action, where his tendency towards bold and stylish abstraction make his art seem to emanate from another time and place altogether. Andrew Sim, Sim Fine Art
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15 x 22 cms Watercolour & Ink, signed
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21 x 33 cms, Watercolour & Ink
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17 x 28 cms, Watercolour & Ink, signed, dated & inscribed
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FASHION ILLUSTRATOR
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The fashion illustrator was commissioned to capture the verve, spirit & elegance of the period in which they worked. The freshness and spontaneity of their work perfectly caught the mood and energy of the time by expressing the vision of the designer & drawing the viewer into the picture, eliciting a desire to be part of the romance and beauty of ‘the look’. For too long fashion illustration has been seen as a secondary art form, no matter how beautifully executed. Though the illustrators style was familiar & published internationally, few have been recognised until now as ‘fine’ artists. The world of fashion illustration remained a secret world in which only those working in the industry knew & admired each other. Even so, it was enormously competitive. Crosthwait developed his own style, often using wit & charm to distinguish himself from his competitors. Each illustrator trained at art school, Crosthwait at the prestigious Pratt Institute, New York. Here the illustrator learnt the art of drawing from life, attending daily life classes to perfect their understanding of the human form. In addition, a truly great illustrator needed to understand the process of designing, cutting & finishing a garment – with these skills they could then translate what they saw into a work of art that would sell a thousand frocks! No truer is this than with the work of Crosthwait. He perhaps understood better than almost anyone the beauty of the female form & was able to bring a spontaneous realism to his illustrations that secured his place with Harpers Bazaar for almost 30 years.
Tragically, few original fashion illustrations survive today. With the need for speed in production & printing, illustrations were rarely kept. Many were damaged in the printing process & thrown away, considered worthless once the image was reproduced to print. Those that have survived have become internationally collectable as original art forms that capture the elegance, attitude & style of the time. Connie Gray, Gray M.C.A
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50 x 65 cms Ink, Watercolour, signed & inscribed
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50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour, signed, dated & inscribed
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50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour, signed, dated & inscbribed
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50 x 65 cms Pencil & Watercolour, dated & inscribed
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50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour
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45 x 62 cms Watercolour & Collage, signed
10 50 x 65 cms Mixed Media, signed
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11 45 x 64 cms Watercolour
12 50 x 65 cms Mixed Media, inscribed
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13 41 x 62 cms Watercolour, signed & dated
14 50 x 65 cms Watercolour, dated & inscribed
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15 50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour, dated & inscribed
16 50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour
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17 22 x 30 cms Ink & Gouache, inscribed
18 13 x 18 cms Ink & Watercolour, dated & inscribed
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19 50 x 65 cms Ink & Watercolour, dated & inscribed
20 32 x 50 cms Watercolour & Ink
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21 50 x 65 cms Mixed Media, signed & dated
22 58 x 69 cms Watercolour & Pencil
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23 50 x 65 cms Mixed Media
24 56 x 75 cms Mixed Media
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25 70 x 52 cms Mixed Media, signed
26 64 x 48 cms Watercolour & Ink, signed & inscribed
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27 50 x 65 cms Acrylic & Watercolour, signed
28 56 x 77 cms Acrylic & Watercolour
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ABSTRACT MODERN PAINTER
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Moving to Paris in1947 was a brave decision for Crosthwait. Paris was slow to embrace the Abstract movement immediately post war, preferring to celebrate Picasso, Matisse and the more formal Balthus. The Abstract artists were akin to an underground movement publishing articles and books and being quietly supported by a small circle of critics and gallery owners. Regardless of the disapproval of the new French government the geometric abstract artists such as Mondrian, Kandinsky and Arp thrived. The first salon of abstract art finally held in 1946 soon became an annual institution attracting abstract artists from around the world. Heavily influenced by the emerging art form in North America, this was an exciting time for Crosthwait to establish his studio in Paris. With the beginning of the 1950s, Abstraction itself found new directions with ‘Warm Abstraction’ or ‘L’abstraction lyrique’ moving the goal posts away from its earlier Geometric roots. The Tachisme movement was born in 1954 named by critic and writer Charles Estienne and describing those artists whose work was heavily textured, with dense paint freely and spontaneously used as a sign or gesture expressing the emotions of the artist. The work often juxtapositioned various colour areas closely related in tone, surfaces were built up in texture giving intense form to the work. Hans Harting, Pierre Soulages, Serge Poliakoff and Nicholas de Stael were the leaders in the field, Crosthwait regularly exhibited in mixed shows across Europe with his fellow masters of the genre. His textural layering of paint and subtle, sparing use of colour made him a natural member of the Tachisme movement. The emergence of this group of artists coincided with the very first exhibitions in Paris of the American Abstract Expressionists and of the first show by Jackson Pollock in 1952. From this moment on, European Abstract Expressionist work in a variety of schools was here to stay. Ashley Gray, Gray M.C.A
29 1968 Oil on Canvas 130 x 97 cms, signed
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30 Oil on Canvas 60 x 50 cms, signed
31 Oil on Canvas 65 x 52 cms, signed
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32 Oil on Canvas 39 x 48 cms, signed
33 Oil on Canvas 54 x 72 cms, signed
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34 Oil on Canvas 118 x 84 cms, signed
35 1968 Oil on Canvas 130 x 97 cms, signed
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36 Oil on Canvas 118 x 84 cms, signed
37 Oil on Canvas 65 x 52 cms, signed
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38 56 x 75 cms Acrylic
39 56 x 76 cms Acrylic
40 56 x 76 cms Acrylic, signed
41 55.5 x 76 cms Acrylic & Watercolour, signed
42 56 x 76 cms Acrylic, signed & dated
43 47 x 65 cms Acrylic, signed & inscribed GRAY M.C.A | 45
IRWIN ‘BUD’ CROSTHWAIT 1914 - 1981
1914 Born in Creston, British Columbia to Henry & Ellen Crosthwait. The family owned a mixed agricultural farm. (Henry Crosthwait is buried in the Creston Pioneer Cemetery, reserved for only those who held the title of ‘Pioneer’ - a person who settles land or territory which had never been settled by any European previously, although the land may have been used by native indigenous peoples). 1928 Crosthwait's parents separate & he is taken to live in Montreal with his mother & brother. The boys’ return every summer to Creston. Henry has had to forfeit his farm & is now working on a neighbouring farm belonging to the Hobden family. The long relationship between the two families is forged.
1934 - 1937 Attends Sir George William College, Montreal - Fine Arts. 1935 Crosthwait competes in trials for the 1936 Olympic Games as a swimmer in the Canadian relay team. 1937 - 1938 Attends Pratt Institute, New York - Fine Arts. Here he meets the renowned fashion illustrator Carl ‘Eric’ Erickson who encourages him to attend the fashion collections. His rapid free line is developed that becomes his signature style. 1938 / 39 Crosthwait marries Olga Brown. They have two children Alex (1940-2004) & Angela (b1943).
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... 1939 - 1943 Returns to Montreal to study under Hungarian artist Herman Heimlich. 1944 Awarded Jesse Dow Art Award, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 1943 - 1944 Appointed the Principle Advertising Artist for the largest department store chain in North America - Henry Morgan & Company, Ontario. 1944 - 1947 Enlists in the Canadian Navy & is immediately appointed official Naval War Artist serving on HMCS Ontario & HMCS Warrior. In 1947, when HMCS Warrior is decommissioned on arrival in England, Crosthwait requests a discharge so as to be able to make his way to Paris & follow his dream of being a painter. 1947 - 1979 Crosthwait, leaving his family in Canada, settles in Paris for the next 32 years, living & working from his studio, 108 Blvd Rochechouart, Montmartre. 1947 onwards Gains a scholarship to attend the L'École Beaux-Arts, Paris. His work as a fashion illustrator thrives & he is continuously commissioned by all the most prestigious publications & fashion houses. Givenchy & Balenciaga will only have Crosthwait attend the new seasons collections such is his immense ability to capture the elegance of the gowns in just a few short lines. His other clients include Dior, Yves St Laurent, Emilio Pucci & Marc Vaughan. He contributes regularly on request from the fashion editors of Harpers Bazaar, Queen, Vogue (US, French & UK), Elle, Femina, L’Art de Mode, Figaro, Jardin de Mode, Elegante Welt, The New York Times, Herald Tribune, Mademoiselle, Philadelphia Bulletin, Birmingham Post. Between commissions for his fashion work he concentrates on developing his Modern Abstract Painting. His work is highly revered by his post war Tachism school abstract expressionist contemporaries. He exhibits world wide along side Serge Poliakoff, Hans Hartung, Robert Jacobsen, Nicholas de Stael & Victor Vasarely. 1960’s - 1979 During this time Crosthwait spends the summers in the small mountain village of Menzonio, Switzerland. Here he continues to paint canvases for his exhibitions & works on a series of nudes. He develops his use of acrylic paints to produce the vivid works for his Cosmic series. He develops a close relationship with the Wallner family with whom he also stays with in London when he is working for either the fashion publications or exhibitions.
Exhibitions Included: 1958 Gallerie A.G., 32 Rue de l’Universite, Paris 7eme Hanover Gallery, 32a St George Street, London W1 1961 O’Hana Gallery, 13 Carlos Place, Grosvenor Square, London W1 1962 & 1965 Galeria Montenapoleone, Via Montenapoleone, Milan Obelisco Galerie, Rome 1969 Galerie Creations, Basel Musée d’Art National de Montreal, Canada 1972 Gallerie Friedemann, Gutersloh, Germany 1973 Le Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris 1974 Boutique Atmosphere, 27 Rue Pont Neuf, Paris 1975 Hotel Méridien, Paris 1976 Galerie Schoner Wohnen, Locarno, Switzerland 1978 Galerie Felix, Caracas, Venezuela
1979 Crosthwait returns to Montreal, Canada due to ill health & is nursed by his wife Olga. 1981 Crosthwait dies in his native Canada.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With sincere thanks to the following people who have been so generous with their enthusiasm, time & memories of Bud. For allowing us to view their private collections of art & for answering innumerable questions. All had a very personal relationship with Bud & to each one we are enormously indebted for their kindness. Ursula Fey Lana Thompson (Nee Hobden) Irwin Hobden Ritch Hobden Barry Thompson Madame Arlene Baudart-Vaughan Peter Wallner Stefanie Soar (Nee Wallner) Without their help the retrospective of Irwin Crosthwaits life would never have been possible. We would also like to thank Andrew Sim of Sim Fine Art www.simfineart.com for his expertise on the war period, to Angela Landels, former art director at Harpers Bazaar, The Canadian High Commission & British Fashion Council for their support, Rachel Aked & Sandie Maylor for Press & PR.
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Photography by Richard Sainsbury 01823 272828
Designed and Printed by Shelleys The Printers, Sherborne
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PAST REVIEWS ‘News Chronicle’ 1958 - Jean Soward, Fashion Editor ‘The signature is familiar. You’ve seen it often on this page under sketches of the latest Paris creations. But in another sphere of art the name stands for something quite different.....intricate designs, margining shapes, colour striking and evocative as the notes of modern symphony’.
‘Birmingham Post’ 1961 ‘.... His abstracts are highly decorative, carried out with verve & bright colour, a very wide palette knife and a prodigious expenditure of paint .... But they made one of an earth-bound athlete, rejoicing in the play of colours as a change from the exercise of his limbs’.
‘Apollo’ October 1961 ‘....the tough man of Modern Art. The free technique of his gouaches, as far removed from the Paris collections, which he sketches for Harpers Bazaar and the press, as Rembrandt is from de Stael. The more restrained oils are an instance of his yearning to be treated as a serious artist in today’s vernacular and they match up well with the output of others whose reputations are already established’.
‘The Sunday Times’ ‘...He certainly knows how to put a picture together...’
‘Harpers Bazaar’ October 1961 ‘Only two things ever draw Canadian artist Crosthwait away from his Montmartre studio.. the Paris collections & a one-man show. Crosthwait’s is no ordinary mind, no ordinary vision. His paintings are a state of mind; a wild, powerful flight of fancy into a world which we cannot see but which he knows is there, behind the rubbishy façade of the modern world. As for colour, well, one hasn’t seen colour until he has been struck, full face by Crosthwait’s intense reds, blues & greens’.
‘Journal de Paris’ ‘.... perhaps one of the kings of Paris ...’ ‘Arts Paris’ ‘Crosthwait deploys on canvas and paper a pleasure of paint that is without equivocal dynamics in simple games & without trickery’. ‘Paris Match’ 1968 ‘...he paints with freedom following his fantasy and his inspiration....’ Victor Vasarely ‘....he has strength, individuality, good taste & drama ...’
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