(1926-2006)
Located on Regina Five wall, above Golden Prairie Confections (Dr. William Riddell Centre, viewable from 1st and 2nd floors)
© to the Estate of Kenneth Lochhead. Reproduced with the permission of Joanne Lochhead. Photograph by the University of Regina.
Myth by the Shore, 1960
Egg tempera on masonite
48″ x 96″
University of Regina President’s Art Collection; pc.2003.01
Kenneth Lochhead was appointed the position Director of the School of Art, at the Regina College in 1950 and stayed until 1964. While he was the Director, he worked with Dr. W. A. Riddell, Dean of the Regina College, (now the University of Regina) to initiate the Emma Lake Workshops. From 1955 to 1964 he worked with his colleges to bring international influence to Saskatchewan, helping to create an essential discourse of modernism to the work that was being created in the province. Lochhead’s works were among those included in The May Show (1961), an exhibition at the Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, which eventually led to the Five Painters From Regina (1961) exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada and toured Canada giving all members national attention. As well, the inclusion of Lochhead and McKay into the Post Painterly Abstraction (1964) exhibition, curated by Clement Greenberg, reinforced the notion that Saskatchewan had reached the same level of modern art practises being created in North America and internationally, and signaled that Lochhead had succeeded in breaking the isolation of the province.
Myth by the Shore (1960) was one of the last figurative paintings he created until he returned to figuration later in his career. Before this work, he was known for Surrealist figurative and landscape paintings that were devoid of any plant life. The figures were very geometric and had a tight rendering. Here his brushstrokes are much more loose and expressive. Directly after this painting, Lochhead makes a shift to geometric abstractions, focusing on color and line quality. After that stage in his career he moved to color-field paintings and then back to figuration, but this time a more an impressionist style, loose and colorful, yet more naturalistic than this painting. Myth by the Shore is very indicative of Lochhead’s shift in style. Here, the figures are somewhat abstracted. This painting is important because it demonstrates a transitional shift in style from the artist.
Myth by the Shore was included in the exhibition Kenneth Lochhead: An exhibition of Paintings 1952- 1975. This exhibition was organised by the Art Gallery of Windsor and toured Canada from 1977-1978.