Book Description from http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/neufeld.shtml
Woldemar Neufeld (1909–2002) emigrated with his Mennonite parents from Ukraine to Canada in 1924. By the late 1920s, he had begun his lifelong project as documentarist, responding especially to the built environment, whether close to his home in southern Ontario or farther afield: northern Ontario, the prairies and the west coast, the Maritimes and Quebec. His work passed through a number of styles, from the coolly abstract to the vividly “realistic.” Although he never abandoned oils, he produced a substantial body of watercolours and block prints—the latter influenced by German Expressionist and Japanese printmaking approaches.
Woldemar Neufeld’s Canada, a record of Neufeld’s Canadian paintings and block prints, explores influences that shaped Neufeld’s career as it developed in Canada during the 1920s and 1930s and came to fruition from 1940s to the 1990s.
Early on, Neufeld came into contact with leading Canadian artists, from Homer Watson to members of the Group of Seven. During the 1930s, he began to participate in group and solo exhibitions, including a one-man show at the Vancouver Art Gallery. After studies in Cleveland, he settled in New York City (1945) and New England (1949). Until the 1990s, however, he continued to work in Canada, returning especially to document, in various media, urban and rural landscapes in southern Ontario. About Laurence Neufeld, Monika McKillen, Hildi Froese Tiessen, and Paul Gerard Tiessen
Laurence Neufeld and Monika McKillen, based in western Connecticut, are editors of a recent volume of selected American work by Woldemar Neufeld from 1946 to 1995, New Milford Portfolio: Woldemar Neufeld’s Paintings and Block-prints of New Milford, Connecticut. Laurence Neufeld is the son of Woldemar Neufeld.
Hildi Froese Tiessen and Paul Gerard Tiessen have researched the life and work of Woldemar Neufeld for a number of projects, beginning with Waterloo Portfolio: Woldemar Neufeld’s Paintings and Block-prints of Waterloo, Ontario (1982). Hildi Froese Tiessen is Professor of English at Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo, Waterloo. Paul Gerard Tiessen is Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo.
Reviews
“What a wonderful book! Woldemar Neufeld’s Canada is simply superb; it is one of the best and most informative accounts I have read. It links art and culture in a magical way.... I have recommended the book to a number of people and community leaders who are interested in better understanding the community of which we and they are part. This book is invaluable to them.”
— Kenneth McLaughlin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo, local historian, and author
“Beautifully designed and elegantly produced.”
— UW Daily Bulletin (University of Waterloo)
Post a comment
Sorry, comments are closed for this news story. If you have something to share, feel free to get in touch.