Tony Scherman: Heroes, Ghosts, and Dreams

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Tony Scherman, "The Blue Rain," 2005-07

encaustic on canvas. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Gift of Ian and Catherine Delaney, 2018-3.

Since the 1970s, Tony Scherman has pursued image and figuration even while Pop Art and Conceptualism gained prominence. He adopted and perfected the ancient encaustic technique – mixing hot wax with pigment – a medium seldom used among his contemporaries. In his work, he confronts both world history and art history, often utilizing stills and close-ups, and the modern technologies of the camera and film to achieve the desired outcome. Not surprisingly, the portrait is his primary genre, supporting what the artist calls “contemporary meditations on villains and celebrities, heroes and intellectuals.” 

Scherman’s commitment to working serially is undisputed, and in this exhibition, you'll find seminal paintings from several series, including: About 1789, About 1865, The Junkies, and Difficult Women. Also displayed is a group of smaller easel works, including flower, still life, and animal paintings, genres which individually engage the artist between his larger series. Two other large-scale portraits, one of the artist and one of his wife Margaret, complete the arrangement. Drawn from the WAG and private collections, this group of paintings spans the last 40 years of the artist’s production.

With two recent major gifts of Tony Scherman’s work to the WAG, I felt this was the right moment to share these amazing encaustic paintings with our audiences. Drawn from the WAG and private collections, the assembly of canvases spans the last 40 years of the artist’s production, and features paintings from several celebrated series. Supported by a beautiful catalogue, this exhibition is the first major show of Scherman’s paintings in Canada in many years — and we’re thrilled that it’s happening in Winnipeg. —Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO and exhibition curator, Winnipeg Art Gallery