Paraskeva Clark Was an Artist, Socialist, Feminist, and Her Own Woman
I generally respect people who demonstrate an independent line of opinion which they don't mind voicing even though it may have costly repercussions.
Paraskeva Clark was such a person and an outstanding Canadian artist who stood by her own convictions and was never frightened of voicing her opinion regardless of the cost.
Paraskeva was widely recognised as an outspoken member among the Toronto community of painters, a post group of seven generation who created a socially conscious modernist artistic movement during a time of economic depression and political crisis.
The Toronto community of painters had no manifesto or defined terms for membership and ran from 1933 to 1950.
Paraskeva Clark's background Paraskeva Plistik was born in St.
Petersburg in 1898 to a poor working-class family while growing up she had a keen interest in the visual arts which was a staple in the Russian education system.
After school she continued her artistic education at the Petrograd Academy where she took evening classes, while working days in a local shoe works.
From 1918 to 1921 she studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts under a number of prominent painters such as Vasily Shukhayev and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin a keen follower of the post-impressionist painter Cézanne a painter who Paraskeva came to equally admire.
After her instruction she got a job at the Mali Theatre in Leningrad doing theatre decoration and it was here that she met her first husband Oreste Allegre, who was the son of an Italian stage designer and artist.
Together they were very much in love and soon had a baby son; unfortunately less than a year after their marriage Allegri was killed in a drowning accident.
Devastated Paraskeva bravely soldiered on and decided in the autumn of 1923 to go and live with her father-in-law in Paris.
On arriving in Paris she managed to get employment as a saleswoman in an art gallery where she worked mainly during the days.
I couldn't find much evidence of works that Paraskeva might have painted in Paris which was surprising being such an inspirational city.
I suppose it must have been a very difficult time for her moving to a new country just having lost her husband.
Money must have been tight for her supporting a child alone leaving little time for her work.
During her days at the art Gallery she met a man named Philip Clark a Canadian studying in Paris, they fell in love and married in London.
Soon after their marriage they decided to move to Toronto and it was here that Paraskeva was able to take up painting again.
Canadian Life When Paraskeva arrived in Toronto she was very surprised at how quiet the artistic scene was compared to Europe and how difficult it was to get her paintings exhibited.
She found that the artistic establishment was very conservative with one foot still in the past waving off new European artistic movements such as Impressionism.
However the majority of the Toronto establishment did rate a European educationand the old traditions and therefore were mainly interested in European art.
Also being a woman presented Paraskeva with extra challenges in a male dominated artistic establishment.
I must say however reading about Paraskeva I can imagine that she would have thrived in this type of environment.
I can imagine her as a person who would love sticking it to these upper-class elitist types thriving on the adversity and enjoying being controversial.
In Toronto Paraskeva was very vocal about the displeasure she felt for the type of art that was being produced in Toronto at the time.
In a radio interview she described the atmosphere in Toronto to be dead and lifeless.
She felt that Canadian art had to focus more on the people and current events rather than its wilderness, a subject that was covered extensively with the previous work of the Group of Seven.
Paraskeva disliked the ultra-nationalist sentiment that came with the Group of Seven and felt that art in Canada needed to take a new direction taking inspiration from European modernism.
Paraskeva Clark wrote "In our overgrown 'pioneering' delight in our wilderness, we neglected the study of the pioneer, of the man.
And we must not continue this sad mistake..
..
(Art) will have to be useful, clear-human above all," Paraskeva was a very experienced artist by the time she arrived in Toronto and it was this European experience that eventually made her an acceptable addition to the Toronto art scene.
What Clark did was to bring her knowledge of contemporary European modernism to the growing Canadian artistic community in Toronto.
this caused little bit of a stir as many of the prominent writers and art critics in Canada at the time dismissed modernism the simplistic form of art done by people who didn't have the ability to paint properly.
Of course this argument had already run its course during the second half of the 19th century in Europe.
I think it must have been very difficult for Paraskeva generally both professional and personal as she had a keen dislike for the privileged élite a group of people she found herself living and working with.
Her husband's family were Conservative Victorian's among Toronto's upper middle class.
Later her husband Philip Clark became the comptroller general for Ontario.
Being part of this fine old Ontario family Paraskeva would have been expected to behave in an appropriate manner.
I read that the Clark family disallowed red lipstick that Paraskeva liked to wear which must have really given Paraskeva the hump.
In addition to her liberal fashions Paraskeva's political beliefs were very left of centre, (Power to the people) which would have been again very unacceptable in the face of her ultra-conservative in-laws.
The painting above entitled Paraskeva Clark myself made me chuckle as it felt like a demonstration to in-laws that she will wear what she likes and put on any colour lipstick she feels like.
I really like the way she has used value and colour contrast to emphasise her low-cut dress and ultra-intense red lipstick.
Of course this picture runs a little deeper than a simple demonstration of independence to her conservative in-laws.
For me the painting communicates much about Paraskeva herself and the art that she admired.
I believe the painting has some cultural significance by using a distinctly black dress and black hat Paraskeva may have been thinking about the significance of the tone black.
At certain points in history especially European history black was a favourite colour because it was a statement against the perceived indulgences of the elite ruling classes.
So people dressed in black as a statement of their humility, and of their basic nature communicating that they were not ostentatious in anyway.
This would fit with Paraskeva personality and social beliefs so wonder if this was her intent.
Regardless of her personal situation she continued to work melding her experience with other Canadian artists to produce a body of work which is nothing short of outstanding.
Not limiting herself to a certain genre her work covered the entire spectrum of painting including war art and political work.
Paraskeva believed that art should not be merely made by a few elite artists of the time, but by the many to enrich and add artistic variety.
In the end I think Canada's natural beauty won Paraskeva Clark over.
During the Thirties she made increasingly more trips to northern Toronto turning increasingly to landscape and still life painting.
In 1936 Paraskeva painted one of her first Canadian landscapes entitled Wheatfield.
Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no.
16452) Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no.
16452) The painting has an incredibly solid feel to it, I like the way she has carved out the rigid structure of the Wheatfield in contrast to the more organic feeling of the green landscape in the distance.
We all look back to know how to move forward and this is reflected in much of Paraskeva Clark's work.
I can really relate too Paraskeva Clark, coming from a humble working class northern English background myself I have found it difficult at times to adjust to life here in Canada.
Paraskeva wasn't the type person to give up easily persevering to make a rather special contribution to Canadian art.
Paraskeva Died In Torornto at the age of 87
Paraskeva Clark was such a person and an outstanding Canadian artist who stood by her own convictions and was never frightened of voicing her opinion regardless of the cost.
Paraskeva was widely recognised as an outspoken member among the Toronto community of painters, a post group of seven generation who created a socially conscious modernist artistic movement during a time of economic depression and political crisis.
The Toronto community of painters had no manifesto or defined terms for membership and ran from 1933 to 1950.
Paraskeva Clark's background Paraskeva Plistik was born in St.
Petersburg in 1898 to a poor working-class family while growing up she had a keen interest in the visual arts which was a staple in the Russian education system.
After school she continued her artistic education at the Petrograd Academy where she took evening classes, while working days in a local shoe works.
From 1918 to 1921 she studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts under a number of prominent painters such as Vasily Shukhayev and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin a keen follower of the post-impressionist painter Cézanne a painter who Paraskeva came to equally admire.
After her instruction she got a job at the Mali Theatre in Leningrad doing theatre decoration and it was here that she met her first husband Oreste Allegre, who was the son of an Italian stage designer and artist.
Together they were very much in love and soon had a baby son; unfortunately less than a year after their marriage Allegri was killed in a drowning accident.
Devastated Paraskeva bravely soldiered on and decided in the autumn of 1923 to go and live with her father-in-law in Paris.
On arriving in Paris she managed to get employment as a saleswoman in an art gallery where she worked mainly during the days.
I couldn't find much evidence of works that Paraskeva might have painted in Paris which was surprising being such an inspirational city.
I suppose it must have been a very difficult time for her moving to a new country just having lost her husband.
Money must have been tight for her supporting a child alone leaving little time for her work.
During her days at the art Gallery she met a man named Philip Clark a Canadian studying in Paris, they fell in love and married in London.
Soon after their marriage they decided to move to Toronto and it was here that Paraskeva was able to take up painting again.
Canadian Life When Paraskeva arrived in Toronto she was very surprised at how quiet the artistic scene was compared to Europe and how difficult it was to get her paintings exhibited.
She found that the artistic establishment was very conservative with one foot still in the past waving off new European artistic movements such as Impressionism.
However the majority of the Toronto establishment did rate a European educationand the old traditions and therefore were mainly interested in European art.
Also being a woman presented Paraskeva with extra challenges in a male dominated artistic establishment.
I must say however reading about Paraskeva I can imagine that she would have thrived in this type of environment.
I can imagine her as a person who would love sticking it to these upper-class elitist types thriving on the adversity and enjoying being controversial.
In Toronto Paraskeva was very vocal about the displeasure she felt for the type of art that was being produced in Toronto at the time.
In a radio interview she described the atmosphere in Toronto to be dead and lifeless.
She felt that Canadian art had to focus more on the people and current events rather than its wilderness, a subject that was covered extensively with the previous work of the Group of Seven.
Paraskeva disliked the ultra-nationalist sentiment that came with the Group of Seven and felt that art in Canada needed to take a new direction taking inspiration from European modernism.
Paraskeva Clark wrote "In our overgrown 'pioneering' delight in our wilderness, we neglected the study of the pioneer, of the man.
And we must not continue this sad mistake..
..
(Art) will have to be useful, clear-human above all," Paraskeva was a very experienced artist by the time she arrived in Toronto and it was this European experience that eventually made her an acceptable addition to the Toronto art scene.
What Clark did was to bring her knowledge of contemporary European modernism to the growing Canadian artistic community in Toronto.
this caused little bit of a stir as many of the prominent writers and art critics in Canada at the time dismissed modernism the simplistic form of art done by people who didn't have the ability to paint properly.
Of course this argument had already run its course during the second half of the 19th century in Europe.
I think it must have been very difficult for Paraskeva generally both professional and personal as she had a keen dislike for the privileged élite a group of people she found herself living and working with.
Her husband's family were Conservative Victorian's among Toronto's upper middle class.
Later her husband Philip Clark became the comptroller general for Ontario.
Being part of this fine old Ontario family Paraskeva would have been expected to behave in an appropriate manner.
I read that the Clark family disallowed red lipstick that Paraskeva liked to wear which must have really given Paraskeva the hump.
In addition to her liberal fashions Paraskeva's political beliefs were very left of centre, (Power to the people) which would have been again very unacceptable in the face of her ultra-conservative in-laws.
The painting above entitled Paraskeva Clark myself made me chuckle as it felt like a demonstration to in-laws that she will wear what she likes and put on any colour lipstick she feels like.
I really like the way she has used value and colour contrast to emphasise her low-cut dress and ultra-intense red lipstick.
Of course this picture runs a little deeper than a simple demonstration of independence to her conservative in-laws.
For me the painting communicates much about Paraskeva herself and the art that she admired.
I believe the painting has some cultural significance by using a distinctly black dress and black hat Paraskeva may have been thinking about the significance of the tone black.
At certain points in history especially European history black was a favourite colour because it was a statement against the perceived indulgences of the elite ruling classes.
So people dressed in black as a statement of their humility, and of their basic nature communicating that they were not ostentatious in anyway.
This would fit with Paraskeva personality and social beliefs so wonder if this was her intent.
Regardless of her personal situation she continued to work melding her experience with other Canadian artists to produce a body of work which is nothing short of outstanding.
Not limiting herself to a certain genre her work covered the entire spectrum of painting including war art and political work.
Paraskeva believed that art should not be merely made by a few elite artists of the time, but by the many to enrich and add artistic variety.
In the end I think Canada's natural beauty won Paraskeva Clark over.
During the Thirties she made increasingly more trips to northern Toronto turning increasingly to landscape and still life painting.
In 1936 Paraskeva painted one of her first Canadian landscapes entitled Wheatfield.
Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no.
16452) Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no.
16452) The painting has an incredibly solid feel to it, I like the way she has carved out the rigid structure of the Wheatfield in contrast to the more organic feeling of the green landscape in the distance.
We all look back to know how to move forward and this is reflected in much of Paraskeva Clark's work.
I can really relate too Paraskeva Clark, coming from a humble working class northern English background myself I have found it difficult at times to adjust to life here in Canada.
Paraskeva wasn't the type person to give up easily persevering to make a rather special contribution to Canadian art.
Paraskeva Died In Torornto at the age of 87
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