Vancouver Harbour Front

Vancouver Harbour Front, n.d. Felt pen on paper by Sidney (Sid) Arnold Barron (1917-2006)

Vancouver Harbour Front, n.d. Felt pen on paper by Sidney (Sid) Arnold Barron (1917-2006)

Name/Title

Vancouver Harbour Front

Entry/Object ID

2016.01.07

Description

Drawing This composite drawing is made up of three sketched scenes or impressions depicting the Vancouver, B.C. harbour front with ships, boats, derricks, wharves, etc. The scenes have a Modernist feel, and are presented with blocks of colour and wide linear shading, in a muted teal/green/grey palette with some pops of orange and brown.

Artwork Details

Medium

Felt pen on paper

Subject Place

Region

Pacific Northwest

Continent

North America

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Sidney (Sid) Arnold Barron (1917-2006)

Role

Artist

Date made

n.d.

Time Period

20th Century

Notes

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Born in Toronto, Sidney (Sid) Arnold Barron was a popular Canadian editorial cartoonist and artist. During his career, he drew for "The Victoria Daily Times", "The Toronto Star", "Maclean's" and "The Albertan". Barron's densely illustrated style often included a biplane with a trailing sign and a bored "puddy-tat" holding a sign. He often dealt with his subjects satirically and with wit rather than being directly political. Barron grew up in Victoria and after graduating from high school, he worked as a sign painter and commercial illustrator during the Great Depression. At age 21, he took his first formal art classes from artist and designer Allan Edwards (1915-1991). During World War II, Barron worked in the Canadian comic book industry, producing comics for Canadian Heroes Comics. He also started to paint harbours, ships and beach scenes in watercolour and tempera. In 1958 Barron started to produce editorial cartoons for "The Victoria Daily Times", and in 1961 after a Pierre Berton introduction, Barron moved east to begin a 30-year relationship with "The Toronto Star", as an alternate to cartoonist Duncan Macpherson (1924-1993). In 1962, he moved to Calgary to produce work for "The Albertan" while still selling pieces to "The Toronto Star". In 1964, he started selling cartoons to "Maclean's". After the National Archives of Canada and the Glenbow Museum bought many of his original cartoons, he was able to retire and travel. He later moved to Vancouver Island, where he and his wife opened an art studio and gallery. He was a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature

Location

Signed lower right: BARRON Note: Three sketched scenes each with hand-drawn irregular line borders are drawn on one sheet of paper.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Support

Height

17.8 cm

Width

19.1 cm

Acquisition

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Date

Oct 20, 2015

Notes

Lunds Lot #80

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

By Sidney (Sid) Arnold Barron: 2001.02.11 “And furthermore I say to you….” Re Phil Gaglardi, B.C. politician (political cartoon) 2016.01.07 Vancouver Harbour Front (3 drawings in one frame) 2022.04.01 Ships at Sea