ARTICLE

CANADIAN ARTIST PAUL YGARTUA

 

A RETROSPECTIVE ON THE LIFE OF PAUL YGARTUA

 

 

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL CANADIAN ARTIST

INTRODUCTION: This article is about the painter Paul Ygartua, who is, empirically, the most successful living Canadian artist. How do I come to this conclusion? Let’s talk about me first. I’m a businessman (not in the art business) and an art collector (which I have been all my adult life). I’ve known Paul since 1993. We met quite by chance: Paul happened to walk into a hotel restaurant where I was having lunch and the business associate I was lunching with, who knew Paul, asked him to stop by our table for a brief introduction as he walked to his table. Shortly after that I attended an Ygartua exhibition; Paul, Joanne, Pat, and I have been friends since then. Over the years I have bought over 40 of Paul’s works, my art collection numbers well over 1000 original works; over 300 are on display in the house at any one time. Since this article is primarily for an international audience, and most of the collection is of mid 20th century Canadian artists, many of the names will not be immediately recognized; but, most of them are reasonably well known to Canadian collectors, dealers, and museum professionals; and, all of the artists have works in the National Gallery of Canada or in other major museums in Canada, the USA, or Europe. I’ll mention some of the names in the collection to give a flavour of its eclectic scope: James Rosenquist, Zao Wou-Ki, Harold Town, William Weston, Dora Depedery-Hunt, Jack Shadbolt, Lowell Nesbitt, Gordon Smith, Joseph Drapell, Tony Onley, Arthur Shilling, Stanley Cosgrove, Yves Trudeau, Herbert Siebner, Andries Copier, Yvonne Housser, Sorel Etrog, William Ronald, Tom Hodgson, Andre Szaz, York Wilson, Dorothy Stevens, Tony Urquhart, and Louis de Niverville. You probably noticed there are a few non-Canadians on the list.

We’re almost done talking about me; but, the most important part as it relates to my premise that Paul is the most successful living Canadian artist follows: About 15 years ago I noticed a well-known American art website had auction results for Canadian artists; but, not as much biographical information about them as they had for the American artists. In fact, many of the records for important Canadians had no biographical information at all. I contacted the content manager and explained that while I was not a professional writer, since all of the information needed was empirical data – such as life dates, museums, education, employment, publications, and exhibitions – I would be delighted to help research the Canadian artists and contribute the needed biographical information. Since then they have published over 1000 of my submissions; most of them ranging in length from 500 to 2500 words.

THE POINT: I have researched and supplied biographical information on many of Canada’s greatest artists of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries; and, all but a few, most of whom were either born rich or married rich, have had to subsidize their fine art income with fulltime jobs teaching, or doing commercial art, or in some non art related occupation. The few others that have dedicated themselves fulltime to art have often lived rather meagre existences – the starving artist. Even those that had jobs, which I would suppose provided reasonable incomes, still applied for assistance in the form of grants from the Canada Council, or elsewhere, to make their once in a lifetime trips to Europe or to take time off to create a special project.

Paul is unlike any artist I have studied. He has successfully dedicated himself solely and independently to the occupation of creating fine art since he was 23 years old, no other jobs for himself or his wife Joanne. In the last almost 60 years his art has supported his family, which includes two children (now 6 grandchildren); in an incredible globetrotting lifestyle that has funded homes on every continent except Africa and Antarctica; as well as multiple yearly trips to England, France, and Spain; an excursion to Mt. Everest for his daughter; and advanced university educations for his son and daughter at schools inside and outside of Canada. They are the only people I know of who have regular household help: Other than gourmet cooking, neither Paul nor Joanne does housework.

How does he do it? Like Peter Paul Rubens, Paul’s talent, confidence, and professionalism are so extraordinary that he can and will undertake and complete, with brilliance, almost any art project. In the last half century, he has singlehandedly created some of the largest murals on the planet for corporations and public entities; he has undertaken hundreds of easel work commissions for private collectors; and, he has independently created thousands of works of fine art from his own amazing imagination which produces a constantly expanding oeuvre.

CONCLUSION: Several years ago a book titled “Enjoying Modern Art” by Sarah Newmeyer, (former Publicity Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York) made the statement, “…it is doubtful if more than thirty or so artists in the United States make their living today solely from their art.” (page 230). The book was written in 1955 when the population of the U.S.A. was about 166 million and Canada’s was roughly 16 million. The population of both countries has doubled in the last 69 years and there may be other factors that have affected an artist’s ability to make their living today solely from their art; but, my research over the past 15 years would still support her statement. Given that Canada has a population of one tenth the United States, by comparison, allowing for doubling the numbers, we would have maybe six artists making their living today solely by creating fine art. But of the six, how many have been doing it for over 55 years! By the standard of pure professionalism, the ability to make a good living solely from painting, Paul Ygartua has to be the most successful living Canadian artist.

M.D. Silverbrooke

West Vancouver, Canada

February 25, 2024

P.S. Any references to Canadian artists do not include the Inuit artists of Canada’s north; that is an interesting story for another day…

 

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