Atomic Fountain
https://archives.westvancouver.ca/link/fineart116
- Artist
- Binning, Bertram Charles
- Material Type
- Fine Art
- Date Range From
- 1994
- Repository
- West Vancouver Art Museum
- Artist
- Binning, Bertram Charles
- Material Type
- Fine Art
- Accession Number
- 2015.002.018
- Date Range From
- 1994
- Artifact Category
- Description
- printed by Gordon Smith (artist's print)
- Height
- 58 cm
- Width
- 52.5 cm
- Material
- screen print on paper
- Credit / Acknowledgement
- Gift of Gordon Smith
- Artist Biography
- Considered one of the most pre-eminent West Coast artists and a major figure in Canadian modernist history, B.C. Binning’s key inspirations were a childhood spent by the sea in West Vancouver and the dynamic unity between art and architecture. Among other cited influences are the works of Henry Moore and Amedee Ozenfant, whom he studied under during stays abroad in the 1930’s. From this basis Binning formed his practice, his ‘voice’ so to speak. His paintings feature a distinct signature of clean lines and geometric shapes matched with a colourful sense of whimsy that is reined in by strong order and composition. However, the foundations of Binning’s international acclaim was his reputation as an excellent draftsman. “Canadian art need not be only grim, rugged and forbidding” he once said. From 1927 to 1932 Binning attended the Vancouver School of Art, where he studied under F.H. Varley of the Group of Seven and was later appointed a teacher only a year after graduating the program. In 1949 he was invited to teach art to the Faculty of Architecture at the University of British Columbia. He later came to found U.B.C’s School of Fine Arts. He retired from his position as Department Head in 1968 to focus on painting. Binning was commissioned to create murals for both the Imperial Bank of Commerce and the B.C. Electric Building. He was involved in a number of architectural projects, including the design of his own house, now a heritage site.
- Pamphlet Files
- 1. Canadian Architect article, "Binning House" 2. "B.C. Binning: A Retrospective" catalogue text (VAG) 3. Vancouver Sun article, "Binning: a boon to our town's culture" 4. UBC Fonds listing 5. CHIN Listing 6. B.C. MoMo article about the West Coast Style of modernist architecture 7. The Canadian Encyclopedia entry 8. VAG website, description of exhibition (2007) 9. "Generations" exhibition biography and reproduction of hand-drawn self-portrai
- Repository
- West Vancouver Art Museum