Tom Forrestall: Paintings, Drawings, Writings

by Tom Smart

This retrospective Canadian artist Tom Forrestall traces the story of the development of his art from the time he entered Mount Allison University in the late 1950s up to the present. Forming part of a coterie of "magical realist" east-coast painters that includes Alex Colville, Christopher Pratt, and Mary Pratt, this volume presents the range, depth, and poetry of Forrestall's work. It explores the development of his characteristic "magic realist" style and the genesis of his shaped paintings; the use of the egg tempera technique, its origins, limitations, and unique properties; the choice of subject matter and its relationship to defining a poetry of place; the artist's spirituality as expressed directly and symbolically in the imagery; the relationship of sketchbooks and personal written reflections to the paintings; and the place of his art in relationship to analogous contemporary movements in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

152 pages, Hardcover

First published June 28, 2008