Murals, 1966-68

Murals in Quebec and New Brunswick and...

Dorval

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Dorval

The Dorval Airport mural is still a mystery to the compiler of these pages. With the mural itself - if it even still exists - near Montreal and any documents relating to it - such as there might be - in Regina, this subject is represented simply by these few available images.

But images are the main focus of this site because this is visual art and this medium is, or at least can be, a visual one. Information, stimulation and stimulating information will be made available as it is uncovered.

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Dorval Preliminary Drawing, Art Gallery of Peterborough

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Proposal 1, maquette for a mural c.1967

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Confederation Life Mural, Early Proposal Drawing, Art Gallery of Peterborough

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Confederation Life Mural post-restoration 2019

Text from the Confederation Centre web site June 2019:
https://confederationcentre.com/exhibitions/entrance-gallery/

Ronald Bloore's mural White on White is reinstalled in the Entrance Gallery following extensive conservation treatment. It joins Eleanor King's mural Emerald (Cradled in the Waves) and Paul Griffin's tree trunk Leviathan.

In 1965, painter Ronald Bloore offered to create a custom mural for the newly built Confederation Centre of the Arts. The mural was completed in 1967 and is comprised of 11 Masonite panels with layers of white oil paint ranging from cool to warm whites, flat to glossy finishes, and smooth to highly textured surfaces. The varying tones and textures, coupled with the changing outside light, create a mural that Bloore felt would “always be alive and moving.”

The conservation of the mural was carried out in 2018 by Elizabeth Jablonski, a paintings conservator from Nova Scotia, with assistance from Confederation Centre Art Gallery’s conservation technician, Jill McRae. Cracks and losses were consolidated; spot testing was conducted to formulate an appropriate cleaning solution, and areas that could not be safely cleaned were coated with an archival resin and inpainted to match the colour and gloss of the surrounding original paint.

The mural was reinstalled in May 2019 and once again it interacts with the architecture and light, “reflecting something of the outside into the interior.” The changing, raking light provided by the skylight throws Bloore’s welt-like lines and textured planes into sharp relief, presenting White on White in its best light.

And from the PEI CBC News web site, Oct.2018:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-white-on-white-restoration-1.4885444

This restoration allows 'the artist's work to shine.' If Elizabeth Jablonski does her work properly, no one will ever see it. "That's the point," said Jablonski. "I find that to be very satisfying. I really want the artist's work to shine, not my work."

Jablonski is in the midst of a months-long project to restore White on White, a painting by Ronald Bloore that hung in the Confederation Centre concourse in Charlottetown from 1967 to 2003. The painting comes from a period when Bloore was exploring painting without colour, instead exploring texture and the play of light across a canvas. It came down so repairs could be made to the skylight above it, and wasn't put back up because the accumulation of decades of dirt.

"It was, I think, so dirty that it looked uncared for, and that was part of the decision in taking it down," said gallery director Kevin Rice. After 15 years in storage, restoration work has begun on the painting. Jablonski applies a water-based solution that dissolves the grime but doesn't harm the oil paints below, then carefully wipes the grime away. "[It's] revealing some of the gloss and some of the matte areas that seem to be what the artist intended. It does take a lot of patience. It may not be for everyone but I enjoy it," she said. "I also find it makes the artist's intention more clear. With the dirt and grime on it it's more visually active. Once that's cleaned away it calms it down and puts it in perspective." Jablonski said apart from the dirt, inevitable after decades on public display, the painting is in very good condition.

1966-68
murals page

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