Kenneth Campbell Lochhead, L.L. D. (May 22, 1926 – July 15, 2006) was a professor and painter. He was the brother of poet

Douglas Lochhead Douglas Grant Lochhead (pronounced ''Lock''-heed) FRSC (March 25, 1922 – March 15, 2011) was a Canadian poet, academic librarian, bibliographer and university professor who published more than 30 collections of poetry over five decades, from ...

Career

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Lochhead attended the Summer Art School at Queen's University in 1944. From 1945 to 1948, he attended the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. From 1946 to 1948, he studied at the Barnes Foundation near Philadelphia. From 1950 to 1964, he was the director of the School of Art at the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

– Regina Campus. Among his pupils there was Joan Rankin. His art work in this early period was

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

as well as abstract (he bounced between the two). He was commissioned to do two murals in his surrealist mode, one for the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, one for the

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian veterans' organization founded in 1925. Members include people who served in the military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial or municipal police, Royal Canadian Air, Army and Sea Cade ...

branch in Regina (1955–1956), a "major artistic achievement". Lochhead was the co-founder with McKay of the Emma Lake Artist's Workshops in 1955 and attended the 1959 visit of

Barnett Newman Barnett Newman (January 29, 1905 – July 4, 1970) was an American painter. He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters. His paintings explore the sense ...

, followed by a reappraisal of his art. In 1961, he exhibited his abstract paintings as part of the ''

Regina Five Regina Five is the name given to five abstract painters, Kenneth Lochhead, Arthur McKay, Douglas Morton, Ted Godwin, and Ronald Bloore, who displayed their works in the 1961 National Gallery of Canada's exhibition "Five Painters from Regina". ...

'' at the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

with Art McKay, Ron Bloore, Ted Godwin, and Douglas Morton. Along with McKay, he was included in

Clement Greenberg Clement Greenberg () (January 16, 1909 – May 7, 1994), occasionally writing under the pseudonym K. Hardesh, was an American essayist known mainly as an art critic closely associated with American modern art of the mid-20th century and a formali ...

's 1964 '' Post-Painterly Abstraction'' exhibition. By 1968, Lochhead was painting abstract work that let the painting "breathe" by leaving margins of unpainted canvas between the colours. From 1964 to 1973, he was an associate professor in the School of Fine Arts at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

. From 1973 to 1975, he was a professor in the Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. From 1975 to 1989, he was a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. In 1970, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

"for his contribution to the development of painting, especially in Western Canada, as an artist and teacher".Order of Canada Website
Retrieved August 2, 2006 In 2006, he was awarded the

Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts The Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts are annual awards for achievements in visual and media arts in Canada. Up to eight awards are presented annually, each with a prize amount of $25,000. Created in 2000 by then Governor General ...

. He was made a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

In 2005, Ted Fraser curated the exhibition titled ''Kenneth Lochhead: Garden of Light'' for the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds eight galleries totaling to of ...

in Regina. Lochhead died of

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

in Ottawa in 2006.

Books illustrated

*''Looking into Trees'' (Sackville NB: Sybertooth, 2009)

Honours and memberships

* Officer of the Order of Canada; * Honorary Doctor of Laws,

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

with the other members of the

(2001);

References

External links

*
Kenneth Lochhead's official website
* University of Regina Archives and Special Collections. Ken Lochhead Fonds. https://www.uregina.ca/library/services/archives/collections/art-architecture/lockhhead.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Lochhead, Kenneth 1926 births 2006 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer in Canada 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 21st-century Canadian painters Officers of the Order of Canada Artists from Ottawa Painters from Ontario Academic staff of the University of Manitoba Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Academic staff of York University Deaths from cancer in Ontario Artists from Saskatchewan Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists Canadian abstract artists Canadian muralists