User:Frank H. Scheme

FORRESTALL, TOM

Realist painter Tom Forrestall was born in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada in 1936. He grew up in Middleton and Dartmouth and began attending art classes at an early age. In 1954, he was awarded an entrance scholarship to the Fine Arts Faculty at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, graduating in 1958. Along with other well-known artists such as Mary (West) and Christopher Pratt, Lorne Harris Jr. (son of Harris Sr. - Group of 7), Hugh McKenzie and D.P. Brown, Forrestall studied under the watchful eye of Alex Colville, who taught at Mount Allison from 1946 to 1963. Following his graduation in 1958, Forrestall received a Canada Council Grant for independent study and he also married Natalie LeBlanc, whom he had met at the university. The grant allowed them to travel around Europe, visiting museums and viewing art. In 1959, Forrestall became the assistant curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick and in 1960, he received his first major commission - a painting to be presented to Princess Margaret as a wedding gift from the Province of New Brunswick. Thereafter, Forrestall began to devote himself to full-time painting. His search for escaping the constraints of square or rectangular paintings led him to use round-edged panels and a variety of forms derived from the triangle, circle, rhombus and endless others, liberating him from the more common standard shapes. A highly creative painter whose unique style has not always been understood, Tom Forrestall often quotes Oscar Wilde, who said that "an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all". Forrestall's work can be found in galleries and private collections in Canada, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. His many solo and group exhibitions as well as awards, commissions and appointments are far too many to mention here, but his work has been widely recognized. He has been inducted to the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia. He is also the recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal, several Honorary Doctorate degrees and appointments to several academic and art boards. Among his special commissions, is a painting of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's three sons, a gift from the nation to the former Prime Minister upon his retirement. In 2013, Mercedes Benz Canada bought Tom's 1980 300D and commissioned him to paint the four seasons on its contours. It is titled "A car for all seasons". This was all made possible through the work and contacts of Dr. Mary O'Reagan and the O' Reagan family of Nova Scotia. Mary's name is on the car with Forrestall's signature. Tom's son Frank recorded the creative process on film with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" as its background music. "It's really a huge painting. If you broke it down, there would be probably about 15 paintings", said Forrestall. "Winter, from Spring down at the bottom, goes into Summer". Forrestall's brother was the late Senator, Michael Forrestall.