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The Art Gallery of Alberta respectfully acknowledges that we are located in Treaty 6 Territory and Region 4 of the Metis Nation of Alberta. We respect this as the traditional and contemporary  land of diverse Indigenous Peoples including the Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Beaver Cree, Nitsitapi/Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Anishinaabe/Saulteaux/Ojibwe and Dene Peoples. We also acknowledge the many Indigenous, Inuit and Métis people who make Alberta their home today.

William Townsend

Image courtesy of Slade School of Fine Art, UCL

William Townsend, painter (b at London, Eng 23 Feb 1909; d at Banff, Alta 4 July 1973). He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London (1926-30) and then worked in England as a painter and book illustrator. He came to Canada in 1951 to teach at the Banff Centre and returned regularly to teach there and at U of A until his death. He set up the Leverhulme Scholarship for Canadian artists to study abroad and edited Canadian Art Today. Of his many paintings produced in Alberta, his Cascade series (1966-68), based on one of the mountains that overlooks Banff, is considered the most accomplished of his career. The paintings and related drawings utilize abstract shapes indicating proportion, light and a sense of the atmosphere. These highly refined paintings connote a response to a vast scale. He transferred what he knew from the British tradition to this new environment, addressing the daunting nature of the landscape. He kept detailed diaries throughout his life, which he donated to University College, London, and The Townsend Journals, edited by Andrew Forge (1976), cover the period 1928-51.

Hours

Monday: closed
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: 11am-5pm
Thursday: 11am-7pm
Friday: 11am-5pm
Saturday: 11am-5pm
Sunday: 11am-5pm

Admission

* Restrictions apply. Please see our Hours and Admissions page.

AGA members
$Free
Youth 0-17
$Free
Alberta students 18+
$Free
Out-of-province students
$10
General admission
$14
Seniors 65+
$10

Location

2 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T5J 2C1

780.422.6223
info@youraga.ca

Directions

The Art Gallery of Alberta respectfully acknowledges that we are located in Treaty 6 Territory and Region 4 of the Metis Nation of Alberta. We respect this as the traditional and contemporary  land of diverse Indigenous Peoples including the Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Beaver Cree, Nitsitapi/Blackfoot, Métis, Nakota Sioux, Anishinaabe/Saulteaux/Ojibwe and Dene Peoples. We also acknowledge the many Indigenous, Inuit and Métis people who make Alberta their home today.