Ronald Bloore
Artist: Ronald Bloore
Title: Untitled Nov., 1981
Media: oil on masonite
Size: 49” x 96”
Notes: date on verso
Provenance:
Mann Collection, St. Catharines, ON since 1982
Moore Gallery, Hamilton, ON
Exhibited at The John Mann Gallery, St. Catharines, ON
CAN $ Price on Request
Description: This monumental work exemplifies Ronald Bloore’s mature white-on-white vocabulary at its most refined and contemplative. Across the expansive horizontal surface, two radiating, halo-like forms emerge from the field with quiet authority—constructed through finely articulated incised lines that activate the surface through light, shadow, and subtle relief. The composition is both architectural and meditative, evoking ancient cosmological symbols while remaining resolutely modern. Bloore’s restraint—his reduction of colour, gesture, and narrative—draws the viewer into an experience of duration and stillness, where perception shifts with movement and changing light. The painting functions less as an image than as an encounter, reinforcing Bloore’s belief that his works are “fragments of infinity,” suspended between material presence and metaphysical inquiry.
Collector’s Note: Painted in 1981, during one of the most critically acclaimed periods of Bloore’s career, this work has remained in the distinguished Mann Collection since 1982—a provenance that speaks to its early recognition and long-term significance. Large-scale white-on-white works from this era are particularly sought after, representing Bloore’s fully resolved synthesis of archaeology, modernist abstraction, and architectural form. With its exceptional scale, pristine lineage, and alignment with the artist’s most iconic body of work, Untitled (1981) stands as a museum-calibre acquisition. For collectors building historically important Canadian collections, this painting offers both intellectual gravitas and institutional relevance, firmly anchoring it within the canon of postwar Canadian modernism.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ronald Bloore (1925–2009)
“My paintings are fragments of infinity.” — Ronald Bloore, 2006
Ronald Bloore was a foundational figure in Canadian modernism—an artist, educator, curator, and intellectual who helped shape the trajectory of abstract art in Canada during the 20th century. As a founding member of the Regina Five, Bloore was instrumental in shifting the Canadian art world’s focus from representational landscapes to bold, formal abstraction rooted in international dialogue and personal inquiry.
Educated in art and archaeology at the University of Toronto, New York University, and the Courtauld Institute in London, Bloore brought a unique historical and architectural sensibility to his work. After early explorations in colour and form, his practice turned toward austere, architectonic compositions—most notably his signature white-on-white relief paintings, which blurred the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and monument.
Appointed Director of the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in 1958, Bloore used his position to champion contemporary Canadian artists and to mount exhibitions that pushed institutional boundaries. His collaboration with artists Kenneth Lochhead, Ted Godwin, Arthur McKay, and Doug Morton culminated in the landmark 1961 exhibition "Five Painters from Regina", which toured nationally under the auspices of the National Gallery of Canada and permanently changed the perception of prairie-based art.
Bloore’s deep interest in ancient civilizations—particularly the architectural remnants of Egypt, Greece, and Turkey—greatly influenced his minimalist, symbol-rich visual language. His use of elemental shapes such as stars, arches, and pictographic markings reflected a search for universal forms, stripped of ornament and rooted in the spiritual resonance of antiquity.
Over a career spanning six decades, Ronald Bloore exhibited widely across Canada and internationally, participating in over 100 exhibitions, including more than 60 solo shows. He began exhibiting in the early 1950s, with a breakthrough moment in 1961 as part of the influential Five Painters from Regina exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Canada, which brought national attention to the Regina Five. Bloore’s work was featured in landmark venues such as the São Paulo Biennial (1961), the Tate Gallery in London (1964), Expo '67 in Montréal, and major touring retrospectives including Sixteen Years: 1958–1974 and Not Without Design, which travelled to institutions like the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Mackenzie Art Gallery. His consistent solo exhibitions at respected galleries—such as Galerie Dresdnere, the Moore Gallery, and Bau-Xi Gallery—affirmed his stature in Canadian abstraction, while institutional tributes, including Fragments of Infinity (2007–08), cemented his legacy as one of Canada’s most rigorous and visionary modernists.
A Member of the Order of Canada (1993) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2007), Bloore also made an enduring impact as an educator, teaching art and art history at York University and the University of Regina, and influencing generations of Canadian artists and thinkers.
Ronald Bloore’s work is held in an extensive range of public, institutional, and corporate collections across Canada and abroad. His paintings are part of major museum holdings, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the Mackenzie Art Gallery. Numerous university collections, such as those at York University, the University of Toronto, and Simon Fraser University, also feature his work. His art has been acquired by national institutions such as the Canada Council Art Bank and the Department of External Affairs, and has even been displayed at the Canadian Embassy in Rome and Dorval International Airport. In the corporate sphere, Bloore’s paintings appear in collections of major Canadian companies including Royal Bank of Canada, Manulife, Shell Canada, Imperial Oil, and CN Hotels. This widespread presence reflects both his artistic influence and the enduring appeal of his rigorously structured, architecturally inspired abstractions.
Ronald Bloore’s paintings are not just visual compositions—they are meditations on time, space, and permanence. Their austere beauty, intellectual rigor, and symbolic depth continue to resonate with collectors and curators alike, reaffirming Bloore’s legacy as one of Canada’s most important abstract artists.