Charles Playfair (1917-1999)

Born in Hagersville, Ontario, he studied art in Hamilton with John and Hortense Gordon; at the Art Students’ League, New York under George Bridgman, Jon Corbino (1937-41). He joined the army and served in the Intelligence Corps in England, France and the Low Countries and after his demobilization in 1946 returned to Hamilton, Ontario. By 1949 he was exhibiting his paintings at the Hamilton Art Gallery annual winter exhibitions and attracted considerable attention with his work. During his solo show in 1959 at the Upstairs Gallery, Toronto, Colin Sabiston of the Globe & Mail noted, “Mr. Playfair’s drawings in ink and pencil are in the tradition of fine line delineation. They reveal highly developed capacity for selecting the most significant features of subject matter, and for using them with discrimination and taste. . . . The oil paintings have a higher proportion of abstract and non-objective subjects than the drawings, and show the same thoughtful approach. Relving on the world of visible realities, Mr. Playfair seems to move from representationalism to abstraction only a certain distance before realizing the emotive impulses begin to weaken. He then returns to basic subject matter from nature, falling back upon his accomplished draughtsmanship. While the exhibition has high pictorial appeal as it hangs, there is an equal, or even greater interest in its promise of Mr. Playfair’s future development into the ranks of Canada’s major artists.” He exhibited for the first time in the national show of the Third Biennial Exhibition of Canadian Art held at the National Gallery in 1959 and again in 1963 (Fifth Biennial. . . Painting). By 1966 he showed his support for the Canadian Peace Research Institute and donated the proceeds of the sales of his exhibition held at the Port Credit Library, to the Institute. He taught art in Hamilton; was a designer for television production settings at the C.B.C., Toronto, exhibiting his personal work at the Pollock Gallery. Over the years he also held solo shows at Hart House, Tor.; George Loranger, Ottawa; in Regina, Sask. and probably other locations.

Source: a Dictionary of Canadian ARtists Vol. 6 by Colin S. MacDonald