"At the window, the sound of waves crashing on the beach has a rhythm, and as you close your eyes, that sound begins to vibrate, it blurs into a heavy pulsing sound of wheels pounding over the gaps in the steel rails. It passes. You hear the wind rush through the tall dry marsh grass, feel it pull at your clothes, drawing you inland, after the dark horse, and the girl keeps watching. The sound peaks, it becomes a cry. It is the last thing you will ever and always hear." — Andrew Hunter
Colville is a book like no other.
Designed to accompany an exhibition at the Art Gallery Ontario, Colville honours the iconic Canadian artist's legacy and explores the continuing impact of his work on film, literature, and music.
Known for painting decidedly personal subject matter, Colville's painstakingly precise images depict an elusive tension, capturing moments perpetually on the edge of change and the unknown. Featuring more than 100 reproductions, Colville will feature works assembled from museums and private collections nationwide. Spanning the entirety of Colville's career, the works will include many works that have never been have never been reproduced before this moment as well as his most iconic paintings, including Horse and Train, 1953; To Prince Edward Island, 1965; Woman in Bathtub, 1973; and Target Pistol and Man, 1980.
Colville was a painter, printmaker, and war veteran who drew his inspiration from the world around him, transforming the seemingly mundane figures and events of everyday life into archetypes of the modern condition. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1982 and won a Governor General's Visual and Media Arts Award in 2003.