JOHN LITTLE, R.C.A.

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Exhibition: Important Canadian Art (28.Mar.13)

Exhibition: Important Canadian Art (25.Jan.13)

Exhibition: 2012 Retrospective (20.Dec.12)

Exhibition: Important Canadian Art (28.Sep.12)

Newsletter: The Art of Expertise (4.Sep.12)

Exhibition: Important Canadian Art (29.Jun.12)

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John Little Biography

John Little

Born in Montreal, Quebec on February 20, 1928, John Little studied for two years at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts under Dr. Arthur Lismer and Goodridge Roberts. In 1947, Little moved to New York City to attend the Art Students’ League under Will Barnet and Frank J. Reilley. It was also there that in the spring of 1948 he got a job working under Ray Baillie on the now defunct comic strip "Bruce Gentry". Returning to Montreal in 1949, Little became a draftsman with his father’s architectural firm, Luke & Little while also attempting to do illustrations for the Montreal Star. In 1953 he married Lorraine and turned exclusively to painting. Little was greatly aided by William Watson, the Montreal art dealer who took a great interest in the artist's characterizations of Montreal, Quebec City and the outlying regions of Quebec. Watson exhibited them in his Montreal gallery where they ultimately won wide acclaim for Little. Upon the closing of Watson Galleries, the young artist began showing at Montreal’s Continental Galleries and at Galerie Walter Klinkhoff some two years later. In 1961, Little became an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Dorothy Pfeiffer, reviewing his work in 1964, noted;

"Those bemoaning the seemingly ruthless demolition of hundreds of Montreal’s gracious old-world homes and other buildings, the disappearance in the name of progress of various little nooks and parks, and the often callous disposal of dignified stone pillars and amusing cornices will gain nostalgic pleasures from John Little’s show, for he had dedicated his painting to the preservation of such items for posterity. …Three important qualities it certainly contains: assurance, individuality and artistic honesty."

Over his almost sixty years of painting, Little’s work has taken on an even greater significance in the context of Canadian art. He has celebrated the urban core, the neighbourhoods and the ethnic communities of the city centre that were devastated by the urban planners of the 1960s and then the development of the suburbs. Maintaining his focus, using for the most part Montreal and Quebec City as his painting place, and with consummate integrity John Little has become Canada’s premier urban painter. In 1973 he became a full member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He has painted covers for MacLean’s Magazine, and his paintings are in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Concordia University Collection of Art and private collections across the country. In addition, today, his paintings are among the most sought after of the artists of his generation in Canada. For over fifteen years, John Little’s current works have been exclusively available at Galerie Walter Klinkhoff.

© Copyright Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc.

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John Little

Rue d'Aiguillon, Quebec, 1979

Oil on canvas 24" x 30"