Bruno Bobak: The Full Palette

Bruno Bobak became a professional artist before he was 20 years old, and more than 60 years later, his work remains vibrant and in demand by public galleries and collectors in North America and Europe. Bruno Bobak: The Full Palette celebrates his life and work. Five authors present Bobak's life and artistic development, stage by stage. Herb Curtis, a novelist and essayist, outlines the artist's early years in Hamilton, Ontario. Laura Brandon, curator of War Art at the Canadian War Museum , describes Bobak's development as a War Artist, and internationally renowned painter, print-maker, and educator Gordon Smith recalls Bobak's formative decade in Vancouver. Marjory Rogers Donaldson, a painter and portraitist, portrays the richness of Bobak's mature years in Fredericton, and independent curator Roslyn Rosenfeld examines the remarkable depth and range of Bobak's drawings and prints. Introduced by Herménégilde Chiasson, the author and artist who is Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick.

Bernard Riordan is the director and CEO of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. He was director of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for nearly thirty years and the author of Joe Norris: Painted Visions of Nova Scotia. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, with 114 Bobak works, holds the distinction of having the most extensive public collection of his work in Canada.

Herb Curtis is a well-known novelist and essayist. He divides his time between the written word and the river. His work as a seasonal fishing guide on the Miramichi River introduced him to Bruno Bobak and led to an abiding friendship.

Laura Brandon is the curator of War Art at the Canadian War Museum. She is the author of several seminal books including Pegi by Herself: The Life of Pegi Nicol MacLeod, Canadian Artist, which accompanies a retrospective exhibition.

Gordon Smith is a Vancouver painter and printmaker whose international reputation rests on his abstracted images of the Canadian landscape. His work can be found in New York's Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, and the National Gallery of Canada.

Marjory Rogers Donaldson is a painter and portraitist associated with the University of New Brunswick Art Centre since 1945. She worked as assistant director of the Art Centre under Bruno Bobak and later as its director. In 1991 she received the Award of Merit Citation from Association of Museums, New Brunswick.