William Perehudoff
{{Short description|Canadian artist (1918–2013)}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = William Perehudoff
| image = File:William Perehudoff and Ernest Lindner with Eva Mendel Miller.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Saskatoon artists (left) William Perehudoff and Ernest Lindner with Eva Mendel Miller viewing an art exhibition (possibly children's art) in Langham, Sask.
| birth_name = William Perehudoff
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|4|21|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
| death_date = {{Death date|2013|2|26|mf=yes}} (aged 94)
| death_place = Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| spouse = Dorothy Knowles
| ethnicity =
| training = Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Amédée Ozenfant, Emma Lake Artist's Workshops
| movement = Colour Field painting
| works =
| patrons = Fred Mendel
| influenced =
| awards = Order of Canada, Saskatchewan Order of Merit, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
| signature =
| signature_alt =
}}
William Perehudoff {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|SOM|RCA|size=100%}} (April 21, 1918 – February 26, 2013) was a Canadian artist closely associated with colour field painting. He was married to the landscape painter Dorothy Knowles.
Life and career
Perehudoff was born in St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on April 21, 1918, and was raised on a farm in the Doukhobor community of Bogdanovka{{cite web|last1=Kalmakoff|first1=Jonathan|title=Bogdanovka|url=http://doukhobor.org/pn-detailsab73.html?rec=191|website=The Doukhobor Gazeteer|publisher=Doukhobor Genealogy Website|accessdate=21 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522181039/http://doukhobor.org/pn-detailsab73.html?rec=191|archive-date=22 May 2018|url-status=live}} ([https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=52.37515997161632%2C-107.1270685372391&spn=0.878826%2C2.469177&msa=0&mid=1Ko_eghbsdfWd7Fz0l4UX_vxv8Qc&z=17 Google Map]), between the towns of Langham and Borden, Saskatchewan.{{cite web|title=William Perehudoff: Chronology|url=http://www.mendel.ca/perehudoff/about-the-artist/chronology/|publisher=Mendel Art Gallery|accessdate=March 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041957/http://www.mendel.ca/perehudoff/about-the-artist/chronology/|archive-date=May 22, 2018|url-status=live}} His formal education ended at grade eleven, but he pursued art studies with French artist Jean Chariot at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado (1948–49), with Amédée Ozenfant at the Ozenfant School of Fine Arts, New York, New York (1949–50) and through the Emma Lake Artist's Workshops (various years, 1957 to 1990), where he became acquainted with teachers Kenneth Noland and Jules Olitski.{{cite web
|url = http://wanderingcarol.com/?p=1453
|title = William Perehudoff - ie my dad the art star
|first = Carol
|last = Perehudoff
|publisher = Wandering Carol
|date = April 22, 2010
|accessdate = March 6, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120523002042/http://wanderingcarol.com/?p=1453
|archive-date = May 23, 2012
|url-status = live
|url = http://www.artplacement.com/gallery/artists_results_bycat.php?lastname=Perehudoff_William&cat=contemporary
|title = Artists - William Perehudoff
|publisher = Art Placement
|accessdate = March 6, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130930073218/http://www.artplacement.com/gallery/artists_results_bycat.php?lastname=Perehudoff_William&cat=contemporary
|archive-date = September 30, 2013
|url-status = live
}} It was at one of these workshops in 1962 that he met New York art critic Clement Greenberg, who introduced him to Post-painterly Abstraction, which had an enormous impact upon his art and career.
Perehudoff became acquainted with Jack Bush at the suggestion of Kenneth Noland in the mid 1960s. He regularly visited Bush thereafter and felt an affinity for the way Bush worked in commercial art to support his family, as did Perehudoff.{{cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Ken |title=The Heritage of Jack Bush |page=55|date=1981 |publisher=Robert McLaughlin Gallery |location=Oshawa|url=https://librarysearch.library.utoronto.ca/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Carpenter,%20Ken%20(1981).%20The%20Heritage%20of%20Jack%20Bush.&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=UTL&vid=01UTORONTO_INST:UTORONTO&offset=0 |access-date=2021-03-15}}
Perehudoff's work has been represented in numerous public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Remai Modern in Saskatoon, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Art.
In 1994, he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit,{{cite web|title=Saskatchewan Order of Merit Recipients|url=http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=4a57da41-6135-4cdd-b590-c3e019c91683|publisher=Government of Saskatchewan|accessdate=March 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020044047/http://www.ops.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=4a57da41-6135-4cdd-b590-c3e019c91683|archive-date=October 20, 2013|url-status=live}} and in 1999, he was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada.{{cite web|title=Order of Canada: William W. Perehudoff, C.M.|url=http://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=3909&t=12&ln=Perehudoff|publisher=The Governor General of Canada|accessdate=March 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304204327/http://www.gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=3909&t=12&ln=Perehudoff|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}} He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.{{cite web|title=Members since 1880|url=http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp|publisher=Royal Canadian Academy of Arts|accessdate=11 September 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526215339/http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp|archivedate=26 May 2011}} Due to failing eyesight, Perehudoff gave up painting around 2003-2004.{{cite news|last=McKay|first=Stephanie|title='He was competing against history' - Perehudoff spoke volumes with his talent|url=https://thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/competing+against+history+Perehudoff+spoke+volumes+with/8025505/story.html|accessdate=March 6, 2013|newspaper=The StarPhoenix|date=February 27, 2013|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130412011142/http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/competing+against+history+Perehudoff+spoke+volumes+with/8025505/story.html|archivedate=April 12, 2013|url-status=dead}}
In November 2009, several of Perehudoff's murals were successfully removed from the executive suite in the former Intercontinental Packers plant. Perehudoff painted them in 1950, and the abstract silhouettes are considered the last remaining examples of purist cubist art from that period. Appraised at $250,000, the murals had been at risk as the plant was slated for demolition.{{cite news|title=Famed Saskatoon artist William Perehudoff dies|url=https://thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/Famed+Saskatoon+artist+William+Perehudoff+dies/8023236/story.html|newspaper=The StarPhoenix|accessdate=March 6, 2013|date=February 27, 2013|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130306150129/http://www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/Famed+Saskatoon+artist+William+Perehudoff+dies/8023236/story.html|archivedate=March 6, 2013|url-status=dead}} Ian Hodkinson, a retired art conservator, was brought in and used a special method to remove the acrylic paint from the plaster intact.{{cite news
|title = Perehudoff murals rescued, preserved
|date = November 20, 2009
|last = Sharp
|first = Jenn
|newspaper = The StarPhoenix
}} The murals remained in storage{{cite web
|url = http://mendelsmurals.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-official-murals-to-go-in-new.html
|title = Its Official! The Murals to Go in Art Gallery of Saskatachewan
|last = Denny
|first = Dave
|work = Mendel's Murals
|date = June 3, 2010
|accessdate = March 6, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120317122946/http://mendelsmurals.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-official-murals-to-go-in-new.html
|archive-date = March 17, 2012
|url-status = live
}} until the Remai Modern was completed in 2017. They are now displayed in a special antechamber, built to the same dimensions as the boardroom in which they first existed.{{cite web |url=https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/prairie-transformation/ |title=Prairie Transformation |last=Jen |first=Leslie |work=Canadian Architect |publisher=Royal Architectural Institute of Canada |date=2018-01-22 |accessdate=2018-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023304/https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/prairie-transformation/ |archive-date=2018-03-07 |url-status=live }} In 2010, a travelling retrospective titled The Optimism of Colour: William Perehudoff was curated by Karen Wilkin for Saskatoon’s Mendel Art Gallery.{{cite web |title=William Perehudoff: The Optimism of Colour |url=http://rmg.on.ca/exhibitions/the-optimism-of-colour-william-perehudoff-a-retrospective/ |website=rmg.on.ca |date=18 November 2015 |publisher=Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa |access-date=2021-06-17}}
Perehudoff died on February 26, 2013, at age 94.{{cite news
|url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskatchewan-modern-artist-william-perehudoff-dies-at-94-1.1315790
|title = Saskatchewan modern artist William Perehudoff dies at 94
|publisher = CBC News
|date = February 27, 2013
|access-date = March 6, 2013
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130228104747/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/02/27/sk-artist-william-perehudoff-dies-1302.html
|archive-date = February 28, 2013
|url-status = live
}}
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- [https://www.uregina.ca/news/newsreleases.php?release=309 University of Regina news release]
- [http://www.artnet.com/artist/13322/william-perehudoff.html Artnet.com]
- [http://www.winchestergalleriesltd.com/artists/perehudoff/index.php Winchester Galleries - works by Perehudoff from the 1980s and 1990s]
- [http://mendelsmurals.blogspot.com/ Mendel's Murals] - blog describing the removal of Perehudoff murals
- [http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20130302.93314880/BDAStory/BDA/deaths Obituary]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perehudoff, William}}
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:20th-century Canadian painters
Category:Canadian male painters
Category:21st-century Canadian painters
Category:Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit
Category:Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Category:Artists from Saskatoon