Frank Leonard Brooks
Leonard Brooks (7 November 1911 – 20 November 2011) was a Canadian artist.
Leonard Brooks | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frank Leonard Brooks November 7, 1911 |
| Died | November 20, 2011 (aged 100) San Miguel de Allende, Mexico |
| Nationality | English-born Canadian |
| Known for | Painter, Muralist, Graphic artist, Collagist |
| Spouse(s) | Reva (Silverman) Brooks; married 1935 |
| Elected | A.R.C.A., 1939; O.S.A., 1939; C.P.G., C.P.E., Arts and Letters Club, Toronto |
Biography
Born in London, England, Brooks arrived in Canada in 1912. He studied art at Central Technical School, then the Ontario College of Art and with Frank Johnston (1929).[1] Brooks taught at Northern Vocational School in Toronto[1] and became an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1939.
He joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in May 1943. During his posting as a war artist (August 1944 – May 1946), he painted the movements of an aircraft carrier in the waters of Scotland and the activities of mine sweepers and motor torpedo boats in the English Channel off Normandy. After the war, he obtained a grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs to study art in Mexico. He studied with David Alfaro Siqueiros.[1]
Brooks was an accomplished musician. His mother gave him a violin when he was eight years old.[2] He played first violin in concerts with the Guanajuato Symphony. He taught for many years in the music department at the Bellas Artes school in San Miguel de Allende.[3]
On 12 August 1950 he and his wife Reva, as well as Stirling Dickinson and five other American teachers, were deported from Mexico. The official reason was that they did not have proper work visas but the cause may have been a falling out with the owner of a rival school. Leonard Brooks was eventually able to get the deportation order lifted through his contact with General Ignacio M. Beteta, whose brother Ramón Beteta Quintana was an influential politician at the national level.[4]
Brooks published a number of works on watercolour and oil painting techniques.
He turned 100 on November 7, 2011. He died 20 November 2011 in San Miguel de Allende.[5]
Honours
- Associate Royal Canadian Academy (1939)[6]
References
- MacDonald, Colin S. (1975). A Dictionary of Canadian artists. Internet Archive. Ottawa : Canadian Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-919554-11-5.
- Virtue, John (2001). Leonard and Reva Brooks : Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende. Montréal [Que.]: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7735-6983-6. OCLC 144085297.
- Tony (July 21, 2020). "Did You Know? Famous artists pioneer art community in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico". MexConnect. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- Berger, Dina; Wood, Andrew Grant (January 12, 2010). Holiday in Mexico: Critical Reflections on Tourism and Tourist Encounters. Duke University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-8223-4571-8. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- Fine, Philip (January 11, 2012). "Canadian war artist Leonard Brooks, 100, made Mexico his home". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- McMann, Evelyn (1981). Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
External links
- A large number of Brooks' collages, paintings, and drawings at Rumi Art Galleries.
- Several of Brooks' instructional books are available to read at the Internet Archive.
- Brief biography of Brooks at the Canadian War Museum.
- August 2006 filmed interview with Brooks.