Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Spring 2012
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly 32:2 (Spring 2012).
Abstract
Elizabeth Herbert's aim in The Art of John Snow is to restore John Snow (1911-2004) to the register of the most significant artists in Calgary's recent art history. She does this by documenting the recognition he received in his lifetime, the close working relationship he had with other significant artists of his day, the reasons she sees for his neglect by historians, and, more than anything else, the sophistication she sees in his work.
The book is the ninth in a series titled Art in Profile that aims to provide "insight into the life and work of an artist or architect who asserts creativity, individuality, and cultural identity." At first, John Snow seems an odd choice for such a series. Snow was born in Canada to British parents, grew up on a farm, fought in the Second World War, and supported his artistic practice for all of his working life as a full-time banker. His "cultural identity" seems at first glance to be indistinguishable from Calgary's mainstream. But this identification with Calgary is in fact the point. As the author repeats several times, a study of Snow is in essence a study of Calgary. The cultural factors that surround Snow and his contemporaries- the pain of isolation, the yearning for outside recognition, the combination of pride and shame that many Albertans feel in their pioneer heritage-are as useful to the reader in understanding the Canadian West as they are to understanding its art.
Comments
Copyright © 2012 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.