A COLOURFUL LIFE — THE ART AND DRAWING OF JOSH SILBURT
“A Colourful Life” is an illustrated biography of the artist Josh Silburt (1914 – 1991). This edition is a hard bound large format volume featuring over 250 illustrations of Silburt’s paintings and cartoons. Josh began his training under Group of Seven member L.L. Fitzgerald at the Winnipeg School of Art in the 1930’s. His determination to make his living as an artist collided head on with the economic and political upheavals brought about by the Great Depression and the Second World War. From his meagre roots in Winnipeg’s North End, Josh rode the rails to Toronto and began his career as a graphic artist – first doing freelance portraits, then sports cartoons, and finally as the staff political cartoonist at several publications in Ontario and Nova Scotia. His work appeared in all of the major Toronto newspapers as well as others across Canada. Ultimately, Josh’s left wing political views led to his firing at the start of the cold war and his career shifted from drawing to painting. Following the path of his early study at the Winnipeg School, Josh developed his own unique style of palette knife application of vivid oil impasto and later brushed acrylics, capturing the beauty and ruggedness of Canada. Over the next four decades of prolific painting and evolving technique, Josh enjoyed considerable success with numerous one-man shows across Canada. His work appears in private and public collections throughout the world.
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