Item T3797:0001 - 0009 - Walter J. Phillips interview

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0001 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Canada's own identity regarding its art. First reactions on coming to Canada, 1913. Move from Winnipeg to Calgary, and teaching at the Banff School of Fine Art. Move to Victoria, 1960. National Gallery first purchased Phillips' watercolours in 1913. Works at Royal Archives. First exhibited by the Royal Academy in 1912. Ideas on etching. His writing career -- "experimental" writings on woodcut technique, illustrations, etc. Newpaper art columnists for 17 years in Winnipeg. TRACK 2: Before coming to Canada: first job at 20 pounds per year. Painting in England; travels to South Africa;, and teaching there. South African influence on his Canadian paintings. Memories of Africa. Return to England -- teaching again, maturing in his painting. Painting of Cornwall. Move to Canada and differences is painting styles, 1914-1924. Painting at Lake of the Woods. Landscape. Similarities to Group of Seven work. Returned to England, 1925, and perfected his colour woodcut techniques. Work with Y. Shibera [?]. Explains colour woodcut technique.

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0002 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Continues explanation of colour woodcut technique. Japanese influence in his work. "The Technique of the Colour Woodcut" -- first publication. Feelings on large-scale woodcuts. Use of Japanes;e paper in woodcut printing. Teaching experiences: 20 years at Banff School of Fine Arts. TRACK 2: Robert Guard (now director of the Wisconsin Theatre) a former student of Phillips. Excerpts from his; writing about experiences at Banff School, fellow artists, their works, and their influence on Phillips. Eric Bergman, A.J. Musgrove, Mrs. H. Cottingham, Cyril Barrard, H.B. Fanshaw, Fritz, Brantner, L.L. Fitzgerald, etc. Jack Shafflin, Percy Edwards, Cyril Ashmore -- "Brigden's Boys".

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0003 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Brigden Ltd.: history in Winnipeg, commercial engraving house. Son John Phillips' artistic background with Brigden Ltd. Bill Cunningham and other Brigden Boys. Difficulty of making a living ;as an artist in the early days. Painting the Prairies, 1919-1925: favourite spots, familiar landscapes, grain elevators in Port Arthur. Prairie light. Painting in the Maritimes: differences from the Prairies -- weather, climate, etc. Illustrating the book "Dreams of Fort Garry" by Robert Watson. 1929 visit to northeastern Vancouver Island. Paintings and engraving of the Indian population there. T;RACK 2: Comments on Indian art and preservation of Indian culture. Painting on and about Alert Bay. Lamoine Fitzgerald -- his work and style. Fred Varley, Frank Johnson, A.Y. Jackson.;

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0004 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Friendship with A.Y. Jackson; his oil painting and association with Brigden's Ltd. Fred Brigden's death. Brigden's painting of Ontario landscape. Visit to Alert Bay and Vancouver Island. Description of the village where he stayed on Cormorant Island. Specific paintings done while there. Characters of the township, subjects for painting, etc. TRACK 2: Emily Carr: thoughts on her painting ;at the time; her difficulty in gaining public acceptance. Phillips' invitation to Carr to show at the Winnipeg Gallery. Phillips' personal thoughts on Carr's work. Other Western painters: W.P. Weston,; J. Macdonald, Varley, Broadbent, Fanshw, etc. Depression years. Jock Macdonald's struggles, and his early years at the Banff School. Lawren Harris -- his early work.

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0005 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Lawren Harris: his experimental works and small painting. Thomas Fripp's approach to art in Vancouver, 1920-1930s. His academic training in England and at the Royal Academy. Portrait painter ;Richard Jack, also a member of the Royal Academy. Their meeting at Castle Mountain in the Rockies. Frederick Niven, Duncan Campbell Scott, and other writers, alos at Castle Mountain. John Murray Gibbons. The CPR's collection of Phillips' work, primarily watercolours. His acquiantance with Niven. Phillips' teaching experiences in South Africa. Meeting his wife, Gladys, a former student of Phillips ;in Salisbury. The Phillips' move to Canada. TRACK 2: Richard Jack and Frederick Niven. Phillips illustrates Niven's book "Colour in the Canadian Rockies". Niven's background as a writer, and comments; on some of the paintings for the book. Camping at Lake O'Hara with other painters. Tom McLean -- his acquaintance with Tom Thomson and influence on Thomson's work. Phillips' trend towards the Rockies; in the 1930s. ___, the American who painted the Canadian Rockies but was never admitted to the Royal Canadian Academy. Lawren Harris and Jock Macdonald.

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0006 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Phillips' neighbours and acquaintances in Winnipeg. A commission given to Phillips by the Kansas City Woodcutters Society for an original woodcut of Upper Lake Louise, Vista Lake. A discussion of the watercolour medium, his working approach, etc. Clour combinations, make-up of his watercolours, and sources of his dyes, adhesives, etc. Papers. His process of painting: initial sketch, colour sketch in studio, and progress to finished work. Journeys north for the Hudson's Bay Company's commissions by A.Y. Jackson and others. Jackson's studio. George and Kathleen Pepper -- their work. TR;ACK 2: What Phillips looks for in a landscape -- elements, colour, shape, etc. Examples. Peggy's Cove. Adjustments he makes. Approximate time to complete a painting: 10-12 hours. Personal satisfaction from the technique. Painting on impulse. Mixing colours -- making grey. Turner's "washbucket" method.

CALL NUMBER: T3797:0007 - 0009 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1961-11 SUMMARY: [No content summaries are available for these three tapes.]