Michael Reeves May 18th, 1938 – March 19th, 2015
Michael Reeves is arguably one of the last Neo-romantic painters. His peers and mentors have been Directors and Trustees of the Tate and National Galleries in England. He came to Canada with the hopes of making his name as a painter, and at this he succeeded. He and his wife Norma found their place in paradise on Lake Scugog, Ontario, Canada in 1984 and the works Michael produced there are the product of his dream come true. In 1996 the eminent Joan Murray considered him “one of the major painters of his generation” and his works “a triumph of individualism”.
The Reeves family is planning a multi-gallery show of Michael’s works in 2019 as a celebration of his life. Each gallery show will feature different pieces and will showcase a large cross-section of his paintings and drawings. The gallery shows will not only include Michael’s more contemporary works, but also some of his works from the 1950s, none of which have ever been shown before.
We will be producing a series of limited edition (10) prints of some of the works in the shows. We are also producing a book entitled “Persephone’s Eden” that will provide background and insights into the life of Michael Reeves and his work. The book will be available for purchase in the participating galleries and on our website.
As part of the Retrospective celebration Michael’s cottage studio in Port Perry, Ontario, will be included in the Lake Scugog Studio Tour on the first weekend of May next year. In the cottage, we will be showcasing works on loan from the private collections of Michael’s family and friends, as well as the landscape that inspired many of his works. We will direct people to the Scugog Council of the Arts Gallery in the Port Perry Town Hall, where they will be selling our book and promoting the show they will be hosting there in September 2019.
The Kent Farndale Gallery, which is part of the Port Perry Memorial Library complex, has kindly agreed to host a show of Michael’s works in March.
Latitude 44 Gallery in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood has offered to host a book launch for Persephone’s Eden during CONTACT next May and to host more of Michael’s works through the summer.
Since 2011 there are 27 of Michael’s painting on permanent display along The Art Path at Southlake Hospital in Newmarket and we donate one each year. The book will be for sale in the hospital gift shop and a percentage of the books sold there will go to the hospital.
As we have been so lucky as to have the Retrospective accepted by all 3 venues we had applied to in Port Perry for next year, we will write and article about this celebration of life for Canadian Art Magazine. We hope the magazine may be interested in publishing our article in their Spring or Summer editions next year and we can highlight the arts community that was so supportive and appreciative of his work during his lifetime and have been so kind as to host this Retrospective of his life and work.
Please check our website site for further updates as to our progress.
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