Reginald Shepherd & Helen Parsons Shepherd: A Life Composed

Reginald Shepherd, Helen Parsons Shepherd – A Life Composed; edited by Ronald Rompkey; A Shepherd Project publication; published by Breakwater Books, St. Johns, NL, 2005. From the blurb – This volume celebrates the life and work of Helen and Reginald Shepherd and at the same time assesses their contribution to the visual arts in Newfoundland. It begins with an introduction by Ronald Rompkey to situate the Shepherds in the post-Confederation cultural milieu, followed by a general bibliographical and historical essay by Peter Gard, who wrote the catalogue for the AGNL exhibition – Helen Parsons Shepherd and Reginald Shepherd: Four Decades – in 1989. Next, journalist and playwright Joan Sullivan explores through interviews with former students the environment created at the Newfoundland Academy of Art at 51 Cochrane Street. Lisa Moore, a fiction writer who also possesses a degree in visual art from NSCAD, follows with an investigation of the portrait as an art form and Helen Parsons Shepherd’s career as a portraitist. The volume concludes with an essay on early printmaking in Newfoundland and Reginald Shepherd’s work in this medium by Anne Pratt, who has had considerable experience as an art journalist and critic. The volume contains many reproductions of the artists work, mostly in colour, and some in black and white. This large format book, 208 pages measuring 252mm X 268mm, is in fine condition in a fine dust jacket that is now encased in a protective mylar wrap. A beautiful book with high quality reproduction of the artists’ work. A surprisingly scarce book.…