Paraskeva Clark Was an Artist, Socialist, Feminist, and Her Own Woman

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I commonly respect individuals who demonstrate an independent line of opinion which they don't mind voicing even though it may well have expensive repercussions. Paraskeva Clark was such a individual and an outstanding Canadian artist who stood by her own convictions and was by no means frightened of voicing her opinion regardless of the price.

Paraskeva was widely recognised as an outspoken member amongst the Toronto community of painters, a post group of seven generation who created a socially conscious modernist artistic movement in the course of a time of economic depression and political crisis. The Toronto community of painters had no manifesto or defined terms for membership and ran from 1933 to 1950.

Paraskeva Clark's background

Paraskeva Plistik was born in St. Petersburg in 1898 to a poor working-class family when growing up she had a keen interest in the visual arts which was a staple in the Russian education method. Immediately after school she continued her artistic education at the Petrograd Academy exactly where she took evening classes, whilst working days in a neighborhood shoe works. From 1918 to 1921 she studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts under a number of prominent painters such as Vasily Shukhayev and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin a keen follower of the post-impressionist painter Cézanne a painter who Paraskeva came to equally admire.

Right after her instruction she got a job at the Mali Theatre in Leningrad doing theatre decoration and it was here that she met her very first husband Oreste Allegre, who was the son of an Italian stage designer and artist. Together they had been pretty much in adore and soon had a baby son sadly less than a year right after their marriage Allegri was killed in a drowning accident. Devastated Paraskeva bravely soldiered on and decided in the autumn of 1923 to go and live with her father-in-law in Paris. On arriving in Paris she managed to get employment as a saleswoman in an art gallery exactly where she worked mainly throughout the days.

I couldn't find much evidence of works that Paraskeva may possibly have painted in Paris which was surprising being such an inspirational city. I suppose it should have been a extremely tough time for her moving to a new country just having lost her husband. Cash must have been tight for her supporting a child alone leaving little time for her work.

For the duration of her days at the art Gallery she met a man named Philip Clark a Canadian studying in Paris, they fell in enjoy and married in London. Soon after their marriage they decided to move to Toronto and it was here that Paraskeva was able to take up painting once again.

Canadian Life

When Paraskeva arrived in Toronto she was really surprised at how quiet the artistic scene was compared to Europe and how difficult it was to get her paintings exhibited. She discovered that the artistic establishment was pretty conservative with one foot still in the past waving off new European artistic movements such as Impressionism. Even so the majority of the Toronto establishment did rate a European educationand the old traditions and for that reason had been primarily interested in European art. Also becoming a woman presented Paraskeva with additional challenges in a male dominated artistic establishment.

I need to say yet reading about Paraskeva I can picture that she would have thrived in this kind of environment. I can imagine her as a person who would really like sticking it to these upper-class elitist types thriving on the adversity and enjoying getting controversial.

In Toronto Paraskeva was particularly vocal about the displeasure she felt for the type of art that was getting produced in Toronto at the time. In a radio interview she described the atmosphere in Toronto to be dead and lifeless. She felt that Canadian art had to focus even more on the people and present events rather than its wilderness, a subject that was covered extensively with the previous work of the Group of Seven. Paraskeva disliked the ultra-nationalist sentiment that came with the Group of Seven and felt that art in Canada required to take a new direction taking inspiration from European modernism.

Paraskeva Clark wrote "In our overgrown 'pioneering' delight in our wilderness, we neglected the study of the pioneer, of the man. And we ought to not continue this sad mistake.... (Art) will have to be beneficial, clear-human above all,"

Paraskeva was a particularly skilled artist by the time she arrived in Toronto and it was this European encounter that eventually made her an acceptable addition to the Toronto art scene. What Clark did was to bring her understanding of contemporary European modernism to the growing Canadian artistic community in Toronto. this brought on small bit of a stir as lots of of the prominent writers and art critics in Canada at the time dismissed modernism the simplistic form of art completed by consumers who didn't have the capability to paint correctly. Of course this argument had already run its course in the course of the second half of the 19th century in Europe.

I feel it should have been rather tricky for Paraskeva frequently each expert and personal as she had a keen dislike for the privileged élite a group of many people she found herself living and working with. Her husband's loved ones had been Conservative Victorian's among Toronto's upper middle class. Later her husband Philip Clark became the comptroller common for Ontario. Being part of this fine old Ontario loved ones Paraskeva would have been expected to behave in an appropriate manner. I read that the Clark household disallowed red lipstick that Paraskeva liked to wear which have to have definitely given Paraskeva the hump. In addition to her liberal fashions Paraskeva's political beliefs were pretty left of centre, (Power to the many people) which would have been once again really unacceptable in the face of her ultra-conservative in-laws.

The painting above entitled made me chuckle as it felt like a demonstration to in-laws that she will wear what she likes and put on any colour lipstick she feels like. I genuinely like the way she has utilized value and colour contrast to emphasise her low-cut dress and ultra-intense red lipstick.

Of course this picture runs a little deeper than a straightforward demonstration of independence to her conservative in-laws. For me the painting communicates a lot about Paraskeva herself and the art that she admired.

I believe the painting has some cultural significance by employing a distinctly black dress and black hat Paraskeva could possibly have been thinking about the significance of the tone black. At specific points in history particularly European history black was a favourite colour due to the fact it was a statement against the perceived indulgences of the elite ruling classes. So consumers dressed in black as a statement of their humility, and of their fundamental nature communicating that they had been not ostentatious in anyway. This would fit with Paraskeva personality and social beliefs so wonder if this was her intent.

Regardless of her individual situation she continued to function melding her encounter with other Canadian artists to generate a body of work which is absolutely nothing short of outstanding. Not limiting herself to a certain genre her work covered the whole spectrum of painting such as war art and political function.

Paraskeva believed that art will need to not be merely produced by a few elite artists of the time, but by the many to enrich and add artistic variety.

In the end I feel Canada's natural beauty won Paraskeva Clark over. During the Thirties she produced increasingly extra trips to northern Toronto turning increasingly to landscape and still life painting.

In 1936 Paraskeva painted 1 of her initially Canadian landscapes entitled Wheatfield.

Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no. 16452)

Paraskeva Clark Wheat Field 1936 National Gallery of Canada (no. 16452)

The painting has an incredibly solid really feel to it, I like the way she has carved out the rigid structure of the Wheatfield in contrast to the a great deal more organic feeling of the green landscape in the distance.

We all look back to know how to move forward and this is reflected in a lot of Paraskeva Clark's work. I can certainly relate too Paraskeva Clark, coming from a humble working class northern English background myself I have found it tough at times to adjust to life here in Canada. Paraskeva wasn't the type person to give up effortlessly persevering to make a rather special contribution to Canadian art.

Paraskeva Died In Torornto at the age of 87