From the Collection: William Ronald

Today we’re sharing the work of William Ronald from the Art Gallery of Peterborough Permanent Collection.

William Ronald (1926 – 1998) was a Canadian artist, born in Stratford, Ontario. He spent a significant amount of his life living in both New York City, and Toronto, and was a major influence on the development of the Abstract Expressionist art movement in mainstream Canadian art in the 1960s and 1970s.

Abstract Expressionism emerged from the New York art scene in the 1940s and 50s and emphasized non-objective imagery and emotional expression through bold, gestural abstraction. Arising in the aftermath of WWII, a period of significant trauma and anxiety, it was fuelled by artists who sought new ways to express complex emotions. Within Abstract Expressionism were two broad groupings: the “action painters,” who approached their canvases with expressive brush strokes emphasizing the physical act of creation; and the colour field painters who filled their canvases with large areas of a single colour to create a contemplative or meditative effect.

William Ronald was the youngest member of Painters Eleven, a collective based out of Toronto in the 1950s, and the first abstract painting group in Ontario. The Painters Eleven are credited with introducing a New York abstract influence to the mainstream Canadian art scene. By the 1970s William Ronald’s style had evolved and adapted stylistically to the evolving abstract art scene by painting almost exclusively with clear colours and hard edges, aligning more and more with the colour field style.

“Black Venus” is an example of this evolution in his style and contains a selection of bold flat colours. The vibrant, asymmetrical background of solid, geometric colour blocks contrasts heavily with the dark organic shape located in the centre of the lower half. Ronald’s use of colour blocking in varying sizes creates a sense of balance and unity across the composition, while the dark central form evokes a sense of unease.