Miller Brittain’s life as an artist is defined partly by the large and diverse body of drawings and paintings that trace a course of self examination, interpret the life and people around him, and probe his spiritual and emotional landscapes. Brittain (1912-1968) was a figurative artist at a time when landscape painting of the Group of Seven and their followers held sway in Canadian art. He studied at New York’s Art Students’ League between 1930 and 1932 where he developed his artistic voice. He was interested in depicting his immediate environment, and this direction led him to create dynamic social realist paintings of his native Saint John when he returned home from New York.
Organized and circulated by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, curated by Tom Smart