Mary Pratt

A Biographical Sketch

Mary Pratt was born on March 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
After studying fine arts at Mount Allison University in Sackville,
New Brunswick and obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1961
she moved with her husband Christopher Pratt to Salmonier,
Newfoundland which was to be the setting and provide the subject
matter for her artwork over the next three decades.


Mary Pratt had her first solo exhibition at the Memorial University
of Newfoundland Art Gallery in St. John's in 1967. Since that time
she has had numerous solo exhibitions across the country in both
public and private galleries and has been included in significant
group shows such as "Survey of Canadian Art Now" at the
Vancouver Art Gallery (1974); "9 out of 10: Survey of Contemporary
Canadian Art" at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (1974); "Some Canadian
Women Artists" at the National Gallery (1975); "Aspects of Realism,
a national touring exhibition which originated at The Gallery,
Stratford (1976); "Realism in Canada: Traditional and New" at the
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina (1978); "12 Canadian Artists"
at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa (1980) and more recently
"Survivors, In Search of a Voice: The Art of Courage", a national touring
exhibition from the Royal Ontario Museum (1995).


"Mary Pratt: A Partial Retrospective" was exhibited at the Memorial
University of Newfoundland Art Gallery in St. John's in 1973 and in 1995
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton initiated a national retrospective
entitled "The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light" which toured to major
galleries across the country and included paintings from the 1960's to the 1990's.


Mary Pratt's work has been included in the permanent collections of the
National Gallery of Canada; London Regional Art Gallery; The Art Gallery,
Memorial University of Newfoundland; New Brunswick Museum; University of
Guelph Art Gallery; Beaverbrook Art Gallery; Vancouver Art Gallery; Art
Gallery of Greater Victoria; Confederation Art Centre; Robert McLaughlin
Gallery; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; Owens Art Gallery; Acadia University
and the University of Toronto.


Among her awards are YM/YMCA Women of Distinction Award, London,
Ontario; the Canadian Conference of the Arts Commemorative Medal
for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in recognition of her
contribution made to the life of the artistic community in Canada;
induction to the Arts Hall of Fame of the Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts Council; and the Molson Prize in the Arts.


Tom Smart, in his book "The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light"
summarizes Mary's work thus: "She is not interested merely in turning articles
and rituals of domesticity into a myth of her creative life. The myth that Pratt
has developed expresses the incarnations of a radiant muse in her art."
And Mary Pratt once said "I guess I decided when I was just a very little child
that a real painter could paint anything."